“According to CBO’s own numbers, the so-called ‘public option’ will begin operating at a loss in 2017,” said Wilson. “Every year after that, the program will spend more than it takes in by tens of billions, ultimately resulting in the federal government borrowing and printing money to pay for subsidizing health coverage.”

Wilson urged Senators on the fence to reconsider their support for the “public option.” “Senators need to consider the long-term costs of this program. It will have lost $109 billion by 2019, and by 2030, will lose more than $1 trillion.”

“Not even the Medicare spending cuts and confiscatory taxes will be able to keep up with the spending increases proposed. CBO has not properly measured this bill and its rating of ‘deficit-neutral’ through 2019 is nothing more than a head fake,” Wilson added.

According to Americans for Limited Government’s analysis of Congressional Budget Office data, the “public option” program loses $32 billion through 2017, $69 billion through 2018, and $109 billion through 2019:

 

“Senators have not been given the complete picture by CBO. The deficits inherent in the ‘public option’ will only grow by widening figures after 2019, almost doubling every year thereafter,” Wilson said, concluding, “This will result in an unsustainable burden for taxpayers that Senators would do well to consider before voting to essentially bankrupt the country.”

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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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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Americans for Limited Government estimates the legislation will cost $2.1 trillion over ten years once fully implemented, and “will drive millions Americans off of private, employer-based health care, on to substandard, below-average government-run care, and open the door for a single payer system,” said Wilson.

The final vote was 220 to 215.

“This Congress is rotten to its core,” said Wilson, adding, “Members no longer represent their constituents, they serve the Washington political elite. They have succumbed to the insider deals, handouts, and kickbacks Nancy Pelosi needed to secure the votes for the federal government to claim an iron grip of one-sixth of the nation’s economy.”

Citing the Congressional Budget Office cost estimate of H.R. 3962, Wilson said, “This bill will raise taxes by more than $780 billion and cut Medicare by more than $450 billion. In the process, they are enraging political independents and seniors, both critical voting blocs for whom dozens of vulnerable members in the majority must answer to.”

“Members that voted for this abomination have signed a political suicide pact for which they will be held accountable,” Wilson declared. “They have gone against the express will of their constituents who opposed this legislation.”

The bill would force millions of uninsured Americans to obtain insurance or else pay a fine, 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.

“As health care costs skyrocket because of the elimination of the private sector health options contained in this bill, so too will the costs owed by taxpayers, resulting in hundreds of billions of deficit-spending,” said Wilson. “Because insurance under the plan is mandatory, the more private insurers that are driven out of business by diminishing insurance pools, the more Americans who will be forced onto government-run and subsidized care.”

“This bill will ration care away from seniors, water down and reduce the quality of everyone’s care , increase health premiums, put bureaucrats between doctors and patients, break the public treasury, and leave taxpayers with a bill that cannot possibly be paid back,” Wilson added.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 54 percent of voters oppose the “public option” proposed, which only 42 percent support. In addition, James Carville’s Democracy Corps polls found a full 54 percent of seniors oppose the nationalized health care plan. According to the poll conducted in June, 41 percent of seniors strongly oppose the Obama plan and only 14 percent strongly favor it.

“To pass this monstrosity on the heels of Tuesday’s overwhelming election results against her party, Nancy Pelosi has clearly lost her mind and needs to check her meds. She doesn’t care if vulnerable members in her caucus are wiped out in 2010 or not,” Wilson said.

“Democrats are throwing away seniors as a political constituency,” Wilson added, stating in conclusion, “They are enraging independents, who see their children and children’s children being burdened with an unsustainable debt that will rise to $20 trillion in 2020 and top the Gross Domestic Product in 2011. And taking over health care against the express wishes of tens of millions of Americans who like their private health options and want to keep them.”

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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“Last night’s overwhelming election results leave vulnerable members in the majority in a tight spot,” said Wilson. “Do they want to be wiped out politically to help Barack Obama foist his unwanted agenda on the American people? Or will they abandon ship?”

Already, on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is indicating he may delay final votes on Democrats’ $2.1 trillion “public option” until 2010. But, Wilson argues, “That will make gathering the votes among vulnerable members all the more difficult as voter concerns increasingly shift to unemployment, the national debt, and the sinking dollar.”

Wilson asked of Congressional leadership, “Why, if exit polls show voter anxiety over the state of the economy, jobs, excessive government spending and taxes, is Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid focused on taking over health care and expanding government?”

“Congress is out of step with the American people,” Wilson said.

According to ABC News, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remain committed to holding votes on the “public option” before Christmas. On October 27th, Pelosi said, “I am absolutely confident that we are going to get health care done by the end of this year, and Nancy Pelosi is just as confident.”

Said Reid spokesman Jim Manley, “Our goals remain unchanged. We want to get health insurance reform done this year, and we have unprecedented momentum to achieve that.”

Today, according to Congressional Quarterly, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, Chair of the House Rules committee said a House vote would occur on Saturday, November 7th, with floor debate beginning on Friday.

But, reports ABC, Congressional Democrats may be reconsidering their strategy. A senior Democrat aide said “Getting this done by the by the end of the year is a no-go,” which was confirmed to ABC by two other key Congressional Democrats, indicating disagreement about how to proceed.

“Pelosi and Reid still don’t have the votes,” Wilson explained. “Every time they put off the floor votes, they show their hand—and right now they are saying that they need more time to twist arms and make deals.”

“But for vulnerable members of the Democrat caucus, Pelosi and Reid cannot protect them from an overwhelming public wave of dissatisfaction with government, which never favors the incumbent party,” said Wilson.

“ObamaCare could be the biggest casualty of public outrage with big government,” Wilson said.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 54 percent of voters oppose the “public option” proposed, which only 42 percent support.

“It’s time for moderate and conservative Democrats in Congress to abandon ship if they want to keep their jobs. The American people do not want more government; they are trying desperately to get government off their backs and out of their pockets,” 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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Nov. 3, 2009, Fairfax, VA – Conservative bloggers nationwide have begun turning their attention to top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett in recent days in what one top blogging expert says, “could send shock waves through the entire Obama Administration.”

According to Adam Bitely, Executive Director of NetRightNation.com, which tracks blogging trends in its daily publication, The Overnights, “I have rarely seen the kind of fire building in the hinterlands that I am now seeing over Valerie Jarrett. I’m not sure what set it off – though I know Michelle Malkin has hit the issue several times – but I do know that the rumblings in the blogosphere tell me that Valerie Jarrett is fast becoming a liability.”

“She could soon be the next Van Jones,” adds Bitely.

Bitely says he first started noticing the “rumblings” in late October, when bloggers began asking probing questions about the Obama confident the President has described as being “like a sibling to me.” Since then, the number of blogs – and the disclosures about what bloggers consider Jarrett’s questionable background and tactics – have begun to multiply.

Jarrett’s title is the bureaucratic sounding “Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison.” But, long-time political observers contend that there is little bureaucratic about the White House insider’s ability to cut through the red tape and quickly get what she and the President want.

According to Obama’s top South Carolina political director in the 2008 campaign, “If you want something done, there are two people he’s not going to say no to: Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama.”

While this may have escaped some in the mainstream media, Bitely says it is becoming abundantly apparent to conservative bloggers nationwide, who have carefully amassed a wide range of controversial material about the top advisor. And they are sounding the alarm over what they consider Jarrett’s wheeling-dealing and radical mindset.

“Oddly enough, what seems to have triggered the onslaught is a Boston Globe video from way back in June of 2008,” Bitely says. “That most recently resurfaced in the blogosphere about a week or so ago, and since then, what started as a trickle has become a torrent.”

The Globe video, entitled “Presidential Hopeful. Residents’ Complaints,” depicted squalid conditions at Chicago’s Grove Parc Plaza low-income housing development, including: collapsed roofs and fire damage, mice scampering through the halls and apartments, broken windows and doors, and sewage backing up into kitchen sinks. According to the video, Jarrett was the CEO of the government-funded private company, The Habitat Company, which received millions of dollars to manage the development.

“The video is stark,” explained Bitely, “and it apparently opened a lot of bloggers’ eyes to the type of activities in which Ms. Jarrett has long been involved. Then, as they started putting the pieces together, an even more sordid image emerged. Those pieces, according to Bitely, included:

• According to American Spectator author, The Prowler, Jarrett was the driving force behind many of the more radical Obama Administration appointments, including Van Jones, Cass Sunstein, and FCC Czar Mark Lloyd.

• According to FrontPage.com’s American Daughter blog, Jarrett recently orchestrated an August 10 White House conference call in order to use the federally funded National Endowment of the Arts artists to recruit artists to promote the Administration’s political agenda.

• According to Michelle Malkin’s blog, Jarrett used her position at the White House to promote the ill-fated Chicago Olympics bid in order to use the Olympics to pay off Chicago political cronies who had donated to Democrat causes.

All of this, says Bitely, is just the tip of the iceberg in what he describes as a “growing crescendo of blogosphere revelations.” He says that the conservative blogosphere is now pulling material from a wide variety of sources, like Glenn Beck, the New York Times, and other lesser known media, that in the past have touched on one aspect of the Jarrett saga and then moved on.

“This is bad news for Obama, Jarrett, and the Democrats,” says Bitely. “Bloggers are now bringing all the material together. The picture that is emerging could trigger a major scandal in the Oval Office. We’re collecting it all at StopJarrett.com, and it is growing at a rapid pace every single day.”

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“Members of Congress are now faced with the ultimate moral dilemma,” said Wilson. “Do they represent the people of their districts, who do not want their health care taken over by government, rationed, and watered-down, nor their taxes raised, the budget broken, and Medicare cut to pay for it? Or do they represent Nancy Pelosi, who does want all of those things?”

Today, on the steps of the Capitol, Pelosi and Hoyer presented the consolidated version of the “public option” to the nation, as reported by Politico. Debate is slated to begin next week on the House floor.

The entitlement is reported to extend to 36 million people at a cost of $894 billion over ten years. Politico reported that according to the Congressional Budget Office, “the legislation is projected to create deficits over the second five years.”

“An entitlement is not ‘deficit-neutral’ if it will only allegedly operate in the black for 5 years and then leaves taxpayers in the red every year thereafter. This is just one more unsustainable entitlement that Congress is creating. It will raises taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars, cut Medicare by hundreds of billions more, and in the end, will still generate deficits that will ultimately bankrupt the public treasury,” Wilson noted.

“All for a non-emergency—over 280 million Americans already have health insurance. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation,” Wilson added.

In 2007, the U.S. spent $2.4 trillion in total health care spending, and the price tag for health care expenditures, NCHC projects, will rise to $3.1 trillion by 2012, and $4.3 trillion by 2016. As of 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that some 201.7 million, or 71.5 percent of Americans with health insurance, get their insurance privately. 28.5 percent of those with insurance, or 80.3 million, get it from the government.

“Another big problem for Congress is that it intends to only spend on average $2,483 per individual. Only, that’s more than $2,000 less than what an average premium actually costs—some $4,700,” Wilson said.

“That means this will be below-average, watered-down health care that will only diminish in quality over the years as more private insurers are driven out of business and more people forced onto the government-run plan,” Wilson added.

Americans for Limited Government estimates that “public option” legislation will cost more than $2.1 trillion over ten years once fully implemented.

“Members of the House have some soul-searching to do. Nancy Pelosi has completely gone insane if she thinks the American people will support this ‘public option’ any more than the other six ‘public options’ that have already been presented,” Wilson said.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 57 percent of voters nationwide believe it will raise the cost of health care, and 53 percent believe the quality of care will get worse. And 63 percent “are strongly opposed to a public option if they think it could lead employers to drop the existing coverage they provide employees.”

A full 51 percent are opposed to the plan. And according to a recent FOX News poll, Independents, a critical voting bloc in swing congressional districts, oppose ObamaCare by 62 percent to 23 percent.

Wilson concluded by asking representatives, “Where do you stand? Who do you represent? Washington, or your constituents?”

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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At the same time, Wilson applauded Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for promising to join Republicans in filibustering the “public option.” “Senator Lieberman is a hero in this frightful debate over the government takeover of the entire health care system. We need more heroes who are willing to buck Harry Reid.”

Lieberman said he would vote against the bill “”even with an opt-out because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.”

“This public option ‘opt-out’ is nothing more than a scam,” said Wilson. “The federal government will still hold all of the cards, and use subsidy ‘incentives’ to essentially force states onto government-run healthcare. In the end, states will be punished one way or another for not participating.”

“For example, the government could make additional federal funding for Medicaid contingent upon participation in ObamaCare,” Wilson explained. “The fact is, the government has managed to achieve 100 percent state participation in receiving tax dollars in everything from education to ‘No Child Left Behind’ to transportation. They’ll get what they want, one way or another through the most draconian thumb-screw thuggery.”

“To make matters worse,” Wilson added, “even if states decide they do not want to participate, individual taxpayers will still be forced to foot the federal tax bill—just like parents who are forced to pay for public schools even though they send their kids to private school,” Wilson said.

“The fact is, this will not pay for itself—it will top $2 trillion over ten years once fully implemented—which is why everyone will be forced to chip in whether or not they directly receive services. It’s just another unsustainable welfare entitlement—and one that will surely bankrupt the entire health system and the public treasury,” Wilson explained.

Yesterday, Reid held a press conference to announce his proposal. He stated, “Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability to opt out if they so choose.”

According to Reid, states would only have until 2014 to make their decision.

“There are a lot of outstanding questions on the ‘Reid Opt-Out.’ Namely, why is this an ‘opt-out’ instead of an ‘opt-in?’ No business in America could get away with an ‘opt-out’ when selling a product. In Harry Reid’s world, taxpayers will get the bill for trillions of dollars for ObamaCare before they even get to decide that they do not want it,” Wilson added.

“And even if states say no, taxpayers will still have to pay,” 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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“These 30 senators have clearly lost track of even the most rudimentary accounting procedures,” said Wilson, adding that, “The so-called ‘public option’ would take one-sixth of the nation’s economy and put it in the hands of an already bankrupt government. In the process, the quality of everyone’s health care would be watered down, Medicare would be severely cut, and they would further bankrupt the public treasury.”

The letter from Senate Democrats to Reid stated, “[W]e are asking for your leadership on ensuring that the merged health reform bill contains a public insurance option.”

Wilson pointed to Senator Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) opposition to the “public option,” who said it would likely face the same problems as Medicare and Medicaid. “Why don’t we fix the two public options we have now instead of creating a third one… I think if you asked, do you want a public option but it would force the government to go bankrupt, people would say no.”

“The Senate should be listening to Senator Landrieu’s voice of moderation on this issue,” said Wilson.

According to the Associated Press, Reid intends to include the “public “option” in the final bill before the Senate.

“Senators must reconsider and reject this radical approach that will add trillions of dollars to the national debt over the coming years, does not pay for itself, and will destroy private health options by making them unaffordable. They must not follow Reid’s lead into financial oblivion,” Wilson said.

Wilson disagreed with the letter which stated, “Without a not-for-profit public insurance alternative that competes with… insurers based on premium rates and quality, insurers will have free rein to increase insurance premiums and drive up the cost of federal subsidies tied to those premiums.”

“Simply, increased government involvement in health care will increase the costs associated with delivering health care. What these senators are really arguing for is a practical, government-run monopoly over delivering care,” Wilson said.

Wilson pointed to a recent Price Waterhouse Cooper report commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans that stated, “by 2019 the cost of single coverage is expected to increase by $1,500 more than it would under the current system and the cost of family coverage is expected to increase by $4,000 more than it would under the current system.”

The report continues, “This amounts to an additional 18 percent increase in premiums by 2019.” The report states that this average increase is a “composite of increases by market segment”: a 49 percent increase for the individual market, a 28 percent increase for employers with fewer than 50 employees, an 11 percent increase for larger employers, and a 9 percent increase for self-insured employers.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 57 percent of voters nationwide believe it will raise the cost of health care, and 53 percent believe the quality of care will get worse. A full 51 percent are opposed to the plan. And 63 percent “are strongly opposed to a public option if they think it could lead employers to drop the existing coverage they provide employees.”

Americans for Limited Government estimates that the “public option” will cost taxpayers some $2.1 trillion over ten years, and “leave the nation in a downward spiral of declining quality while costs skyrocket and taxpayers are broken.”

According to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the Senate Finance Committee bill will cut Medicare and Medicaid by approximately $404 billion, and include tax increases of $406 billion over ten years.

“The nation does not need a ‘public option.’ As Senator Landrieu points out, the unsustainable public options we have are already rapidly driving the nation into bankruptcy. What Congress ought to be focused on is entitlement reform, not entitlement expansion,” 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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