Wednesday, November 4, 2009

My letter to the Blue Dog Coaltion

It is obvious one of the only things that will keep the nightmare of "ObamaCare" from coming true is the Blue Dog Democrats. These congressmen and women purport to be fiscally conservative and have resisted thus far. I have written them the following email. I urge you to write them as well.

bluedog@mail.house.gov

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen,

I wanted to take this opportunity to contact regarding the current healthcare reform proposals that are working their way through Congress. I am urging you to vote no on any form of the current proposals. Last August, the citizens of the United States showed up in force to show their displeasure toward a large bloated healthcare reform proposal; and the sentiment has not changed.

The two proposals known as the "Baucus Bill" and the recent House bill unveiled by Speaker Pelosi are completely unacceptable for the following reasons:

1. Both of these are too expensive. Topping out around (or over) $1 Trillion neither of these bills are sustainable. Healthcare legislation in this form cannot be paid for without massive amounts of borrowing, skyrocketing taxes, or cutting funds to other necessary programs. Piling on huge amounts of debt will further weaken the US dollar. Additionally, excessive borrowing is one of the things that bottomed out Wall Street and helped make the current recession worse. The amount of taxes and fees associated with this will cripple the private sector of the economy, especially small businesses and their employees.

2. Too much government control over citizens' healthcare. Both of these bills show that there will literally be a government official involved in your healthcare from cradle to grave. I don't know anyone who wants the government to be a buffer between them and their doctors. I don't know anyone who wants a bureaucrat involved in their treatment plans. Additionally, this level of control by government will stifle medical research for new treatments.

3. This level of government involvement in healthcare will kill the private industry. Health insurance companies simply cannot compete with the government when the government is one making the rules and setting the prices. Doctors will have no negotiating power with the government as the government dictates to the doctors what they will pay. A congresswoman was caught on YouTube stating that a private insurer once said that this will kill their profits, and she gloated that he's "absolutely right." Does Congress not realize that by killing of private insurance companies that millions will be left without jobs? In the end there will be less competition, not more (as is promised.)

Make no mistake. The people of this country do not want this. Please don't think that just because you are not wading through a room full of angry constituents that we have forgotten about this issue; we have not. Please don't buy into the line that Republicans and people like myself don't want any reform. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If this were a matter of insuring the uninsured, that would not be such a big deal. However, the current proposals go far beyond that and do not touch on things that could really make a difference in the cost of healthcare. Things such as tort reform, there are good programs in Texas and Indiana. What about allowing interstate sale of health insurance? What about treating personally purchased health insurance with the same benefits as employer provided health insurance? What about allowing medications in from certain other countries?

Thank you for your time and consideration,"