HOPE

Bob got it right with regard to Dems and Obamacare.

The height of government irresponsibilty

I am convinced the prospect of Washington taking over the health care industry is the biggest threat to our economy at this moment. The free market that made possible the quality of medicine available in our country has become an endangered species. There are many ways to address the difficulties some Americans face in accessing health care, but Congress and this administration obstinately refuse to entertain any solution that doesn't put them at the helm.

House and Senate leaders are poised to force passage of this bill by outright manipulation of democracy against the will of the people. Senator Obama was right in 2005 when he said of the "reconciliation" process, "A vehicle designed for deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility has been hijacked to facilitate reckless deficits and unsustainable debt." Now, the "most ethical congress in history" is rushing to do exactly this.

Please contact your representative and urge them and their colleagues to vote against this bill, take "reconciliation" off the table, and start over on a bill that fixes real problems (high costs, low accessibility) without creating new ones (conscience violations, unsustainable costs and bureaucracy).

CapWiz provides this helpful wizard for sending the message.

I submitted the following letter to my representative yesterday:

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Greg Bittner
March 10, 2010

The Honorable Erik Paulsen
House of Representatives
126 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-2303

Re: Please vote "No" on government health care

Dear Representative Paulsen:

I urge you to vote "No" on the government takeover of health care on the following grounds.

1) Even if this bill was a good idea, this is not the time. Our economy simply cannot take the strain of more new massive government spending. It is time for government to do less and let the market work.

2) Government health care means abortion funding. Congress and the President have opposed every effort to prevent this, demonstrating their commitment to forcing Americans to pay for programs they morally oppose.

3) Government health care means the end of patient choice. When government defines what is health care, doctors can no longer choose what services they will provide, and patients no longer choose what they pay for. We will all pay for whatever government defines as health care.

I believe the President and House and Senate leaders are wholly wrong in thinking it is the responsibility of government to be the arbiter of health care. Health care is not a right, but a need. This Congress and this President seem to have lost all appreciation for this distinction. When we turn to government for our needs, we give up self-government, our founding principle. Government must help remove obstacles to that need, but must not become the provider of it.

A takeover of a free market is a frontal assault on individual freedom and conscience, and its cost will destroy an already fragile economy. This bill and the means House leaders are using to force it through is the height of government irresponsibility.

Please vote against this bill, and do all you can to persuade your colleagues to do the same.

Sincerely,

Greg Bittner

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Government cannot fix health care and we need to stop pretending it can. It has neither the resources nor the constitutional authority to do what is being attempted. Even if the authority was there, it is simply impossible for government to pay for. Washington's checkbook is overdrawn and its credit limit is exhausted, and our foreign lenders like China may likely foreclose before the fantasy of government-run health care can be implemented.

Meanwhile, the engine of our prosperity, the free market, is constrained. The market has the resources and will provide cost-effective health care if allowed and encouraged through the mechanisms of competition and limits on litigious thuggery. We have already witnessed the collapse of industries whose irresponsibility was subsidized by government, and government has been powerless to save them. Now our government itself is on the bubble. Are we so desperate as to sacrifice our fragile economy to an unfounded faith in the state?

My own convictions about the free market have evolved slowly. I used to be suspicious of it, but I have come to realize America's freedom and free market are intrinsically linked, and when government take control of a market, America becomes less free. This is a cost Americans must acknowledge for government intervention.

The greatest advantage the free market has over government is its resiliency. When a corporation fails, it closes its doors and customers can move on. When a government program fails, it gets more funding and committees in a furious attempt to keep it alive. One of the clearest indicators of government failure is bloat.

In a free market, one boat can sink while others stay afloat, and others are able to help survivors. Government puts us all in the same boat, and at present, that boat is sinking.

Obamacare is utterly unsustainable. Defeat this bill. Free the market. Faith in Washington is ill-founded. Human innovation and industry can and will provide sustainable solutions if they remain free.