By Elois Zeanah
The President has been trying hard to convince the American public that passing his health care reform is urgent because doing nothing will sink our economy farther. It’s an emergency! (Just as passing TARP was an emergency, as was the Stimulus Bill, as was bailing out Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac, and banks, and GM. As is passing the Cap-and-Trade energy tax! Everything that Obama wants, he must have now!)
Yet sitting as a U.S. Senator, health care reform was not so important. Senator Barack Obama helped other Democrats defeat meaningful proposals to reform health care that would have gone far to solve pressing problems that now only government, he says, can fix through a government takeover and $2 trillion. For example:
- Tax Reform to Give Individuals and Families the Same Tax Benefits as Employers
One reason for rising insurance rates, the tax “exclusion” law is caused by government. Current tax laws prohibit employees or individuals as a whole to receive tax benefits when they purchase health insurance. Only employers are eligible for this tax write-off. This tax exclusion for employer-sponsored insurance is a huge, but hidden, tax subsidy of over $246 billion every year.[1]
To level the playing field and allow Americans who do not get insurance through their employers to deduct their health care costs, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered Resolution 70 on March 13, 2008 to fix this unfair tax “exclusion”. Senator Obama voted against this Resolution, which failed by a vote of 45-51.
- Government Regulations Prohibit Cross-State Competition Among Insurance Carries
Another reason for rising insurance rates is that patients cannot shop across state lines. We can go across state lines to buy cheaper booze and to get better retail bargains, and we can shop on the Internet to compare prices to get the best deal; but the government will not let insurance companies compete across state lines. This lack of competition hurts consumers.
To get rid of this government restraint to competition and to allow patients to shop for the best insurance product, Senator DeMint (R-SC) introduced H.R. 976 on August 2, 2007. Senator Obama helped defeat this health care reform, which failed by a vote of 37-62.
- Obama Consistently Opposed Health Care Reforms as a Senator
Obama voted “NO” on many other health care reforms:[2]
- “NO” on allowing Americans to use their own Health Savings Accounts (HAS) to purchase health insurance (H.R. 2 offered by Sen. Ensign, R-NV) on January 25, 2007, which failed by a vote of 47-48.
- “NO” on minimizing the erosion of health coverage (Senate Amendment 2537 to Senate Amendment 2530 to H.R. 976 introduced by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-AZ) on August 2,2007, which failed by a vote of 37-62.
- “NO” to expand health care access and reduce costs through the creation of small business health plans and through modernization of the health insurance marketplace on May 11, 2006, which failed by a vote of 55-32.
- “NO” to save taxpayer money by requiring individuals who are eligible for both SCHIP and employer-sponsored coverage to use the latter first (Senate Amendment 2596 to Senate Amendment 2530 to H.R. 976 offered by Senator Vitter, R-LA) on August 2, 2007, which failed by a vote of 35-64.
- “NO” on requiring illegal immigrants seeking “Z Visas” to maintain a minimum level of health coverage to save taxpayers and hospitals money in uncompensated costs (Senate 1348 introduced by Senator DeMint, R-SC) on June 6, 2007 which failed by a vote of 43-55.
Despite these “NO” votes for needed health care reform over years, the President now blames Republican opponents of his pan. He states:
Republicans are “content to perpetuate the status quo, [and] are, in fact, fighting reform on behalf of powerful special interests.”
Sorry, Mr. President, but such blatant hypocrisy doesn’t help the mojo and your behavioral scientist’s mind-control manipulation. Nor do your proposals to reform health care that expand government and deficits but don’t solve root problems. In fact your “emergency” proposals are bad medicine for our ailing economy.
[1] Joint Committee on Taxation, “Tax Expenditures for Health Care,” July 30, 2008.
[2] http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Jim’sJournal.Detail&Blog_ID=9e16166
I’ve been telling folks for years that most Democrats aren’t stupid. Well, there are some exceptions (see Boxer, Schumer, Frank, Dodd, Specter, Waters, Jackson-Lee). They are either stupid and don’t know what they are doing is going to kill American and turn us into a Socialist/Marxist/Fascist state or they are doing it on purpose.
This little expose provides the answer.
This country is far from beaten. What the brit hasn’t seen is the sleeping anger that american citizens build just before they put their boots on and go to kicking. Our government has foolishly tested those lines this time and it won’t be forgotten.
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