November 12th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today urged members of the Senate to listen to their constituents during a brief holiday recess and defeat the “$2.1 trillion government takeover of the nation’s entire health care sector” when the bill is brought up again next week on the floor of the Senate.
Majority Leader Harry Reid has indicated that he will put the bill on the legislative calendar after its second reading next week. After the reading, which occurs on Tuesday, it could be immediately brought to the floor.
“This bum’s rush — this stampede to take over the health care system by Congress — must be stopped for the sake of all Americans who strongly object to swapping the best quality of health care in the world for yet another over-priced, highly regulated Big Government welfare program,” Wilson declared.
According to the most recent Rasmussen polling, a full 52 percent of voters oppose the legislation, including 58 percent of Independents. A majority of voters have consistently opposed the plan since mid-September.
“Senators must listen to their constituents. They know this ill-conceived health care takeover opens the door for a single payer system, rations care away from seniors, increases health premiums, puts bureaucrats between doctors and patients, breaks the public treasury, and will leave taxpayers with a bill that can never be paid back,” Wilson said.
“Soon, by design, the so-called ‘public option’ will be the only option, and that is completely unacceptable to the American people, a majority of whom oppose this legislation and want to keep their private health options. Bankrupting the nation is not a price worth paying to provide free care to a tiny minority of the uninsured,” Wilson added.
The “public option” socialized medicine bill has already passed the House on Saturday by a vote of 220 to 215. And Wilson says that is all the more reason for the Senate to see to its defeat.
“The Senate was designed to cool the passions of the House—to prevent radical changes to the organization of American society,” said Wilson, adding, “This is one of those times. The ‘public option’ proposal now before Congress is the most radical piece of legislation in history of the Republic that will destroy the fabric of our social order, redistribute wealth, and put the government in essence in charge of who lives and who dies.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate of H.R. 3962, the bill would raise taxes by more than $780 billion and cut Medicare by more than $450 billion.
In addition, the House-passed bill would force millions of uninsured Americans to obtain insurance or else pay a fine or imprisonment, includes employer mandates, and creates a national, government-run “public option.”
Americans for Limited Government estimates more than 45 million Americans would ultimately be required to enroll in government care at an average cost of $4,700 per individual to taxpayers, or a total of $2.1 trillion over ten years once fully implemented.
“It is up to Senators in the several States to decide who it is they serve: their party, or the people,” Wilson concluded.
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.
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