March 24th, 2010
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
To the Members of the United States Senate:
As you are well aware, tonight begins an expected series of votes on reconciliation for the final step in President Barack Obama’s government takeover of the nation’s health care system. Americans for Limited Government would like to remind you of your duty as elected representatives of your states.
An overwhelming majority of Americans remain opposed to the government takeover of health care. They still oppose the unconstitutional individual mandate that will eventually force them on to government-run plans. They continue to be against the rationing of care away from seniors to pay for coverage for the unoccupied. They understand that the cost of premiums will rise even faster now that ObamaCare is the law of the land, and for the few who do not, they soon will witness it firsthand. Millions of Americans are rightly fearful of the implications of $2.5 trillion in insurance provisions costs from 2014 to 2023 once the program is fully implemented.
Reconciliation also remains an improper vehicle for enacting such far-reaching changes to the nation’s economy. The sole goal in utilizing the tactic is to block repeated attempts by the minority to work in a bipartisan fashion in crafting meaningful healthcare reform under the normal rules, and instead to ram the remaining “fixes” down the throats of an unwilling American public.
The problems with process notwithstanding, the troubles posed by the legislation itself are legion. For example, subsidizing premiums will not lower the cost of health care, as reported by the Congressional Budget Office. Instead, it will simply shift the burden of the price of health coverage increasingly to taxpayers. At the same time, the minimum requirements for insurance coverage are increased, and the price of premiums is artificially pushed up.
The CBO report states, “the average insurance policy in this market would cover a substantially larger share of enrollees’ costs for health care (on average) and a slightly wider range of benefits. Those expansions would reflect both the minimum level of coverage (and related requirements) specified in the proposal and people’s decisions to purchase more extensive coverage in response to the structure of subsidies.”
It is well understood that government subsidies have become a primary vehicle for artificially-inflated demand for goods and services, which leads to inflation. This has been the case with housing inflation, education inflation, and other asset bubbles.
Overall, such a tremendous escalation in spending by the federal government, when the nation’s Triple-A credit rating is already threatened and the costs of borrowing are about to go through the roof, will assuredly break the backs of taxpayers. Nonetheless, Mr. Obama has erroneously claimed that his bill would reduce the deficit when the entire entitlement will be operating in the red within less than 15 years, costing over $2.5 trillion from 2014 to 2023.
You know it’s false, the American people know it’s false, and even Congressional leadership acknowledges it to be false. In the lead-up to last Sunday’s vote, House Democrat leadership has internally acknowledged that ObamaCare is not deficit-neutral, as reported by Politico.
Finally, the corrupt process that you have undertaken pass this bill has been unprecedented. Following through on the use of reconciliation to make good on deals made with House Democrats who were reluctant to vote for your legislation is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Instead of upholding the will of the American people, you have instead chosen to abuse Senate rules to achieve the radical, ideological goal of taking over the nation’s health care system. I urge you to reject these shameless tactics, reverse course, and side with the American people by voting against the reconciliation bill.
Sincerely,
William Wilson
President
Americans for Limited Government