Over 16,533,358 people are on fubar.
What are you waiting for?
Last week, President Obama delivered his 29th health care speech to
both chambers of Congress. Proponents of big-government health care were hopeful that this address would be the turning point of the
debate, striking down, once and for all, conservative arguments
against the plan and winning over the American people.
While the speech did spark a temporary boost in support for the plan,
Americans remain skeptical about the Left's arguments on health care. And polls show that public support has again declined for a government takeover of an industry that represents one-sixth of our nation's economy.
The Left argues that public dissatisfaction is due to misinformation
and poor communication. But "it is not the message that is the
problem," writes Heritage's Conn Carroll. "The problem is that the
American people do understand what [the President's] health care plan will mean for them, and they just don't like it."
Why would Americans agree to the Left's prescribed health care
"reform" when even the "compromise" proposals are little better than
the original concept? The plan put forward by Sen. Max Baucus, D-MT,
has been touted in the media as bipartisan and therefore better, but
it "was greeted with near-universal disapproval" in the Senate, writes
Heritage Distinguished Fellow and former Congressman Ernest Istook.
With a price tag of about $900 billion, the Baucus bill would still
expand government to unprecedented levels, inflicting serious economic turmoil and endangering individual liberty.
* Individual Mandates: All Americans will be required to purchase
a federally-approved health care plan or face major taxes.
* Government Mandates: All businesses that employ more than 50
individuals will be required to provide coverage or pay a tax
for each uncovered employee. This tax will be based on that
individual's family income as opposed to his personal income.
This is a "job killing employment tax" that discourages
employers from hiring sole family income earners.
* Unfunded Mandates: The bill calls for a costly expansion of
Medicaid eligibility. This would increase the financial burden
on individual states and limit availability to those most
dependent upon the program.
* Middle-Class Tax Hike: The Baucus proposal would impose a new
federal excise tax on high-cost health plans ,but this tax
could hit middle-class workers as well.
Despite revisions since its debut last week, the Baucus bill has still
failed to win conservative support on Capitol Hill. Writing in the
Wall Street Journal, Sen. Mike Enzi, R-WY, outlined conservative
concerns: it "does not do enough to lower costs, and in many cases, it
will actually increase health-care costs through the new taxes
mandated."
The Left, meanwhile, opposes the Baucus plan for different reasons.
They won't support the proposal unless it includes a government-run
public insurance "option." This government-run plan would compete
unfairly with private insurance providers and would pave the way for a
complete government takeover of the health care system.
In a committee hearing this week, Sen. Baucus urged his colleagues to seize the opportunity to "make history" and pass legislation to
overhaul the nation's health care system. But making history should
not be the objective. The objective should be a transparent,
bipartisan, and effective health care reform proposal. Until that end
is met, back to the drawing board.
