Subject:
Health Care Reform
To:
Sen. Jim Webb
Rep. Gerry Connolly
Sen. Mark Warner
October 31, 2009
I am writing regarding the proposed health care bills, now that the final drafts have been released. Like most of the hard-working silent majority, I don't have time to call or write you everyday because I'm busy trying to make a living so I can pay my bills and my taxes. However, with the likelihood of a vote soon, it is time to remind you of my position on this issue.
I oppose any health care bill that includes any form of public option. The suggestion that this would provide "competition to keep the insurance companies honest" is absurd. How can any private company compete with a government that can, does, and will operate with unlimited taxpayer-funded deficits?
I oppose any health care bill that raids Medicare. If the government can really recover billions of dollars in waste and fraud, then use it to pay the billions of dollars of unfunded liabilities currently facing that program.
I oppose any health care bill that raises taxes on anyone in a time of economic crisis, even the "rich" (the definition of which keeps dipping further into the middle class). If you endlessly tax successful people, you will eventually have no more successful people. That's where tax revenue comes from, not from unmotivated, unproductive people.
Now, I support things like meaningful tort reform, interstate competition among private insurers, and eliminating fraud and waste in Medicare and other government programs. Prove that you can fix what's already broken before you go on a spending spree with fantasy money. Otherwise, you will be driving this country even closer to the brink of bankruptcy.
And finally, be honest with the American people - have the CBO do their estimates on the total package. Don't hide, remove, or defer the costs while showing only the benefits. People aren't as ignorant as some politicians seem to think.
Oakton , VA
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