Party lines and greed

   Health has no party, nor does it have an agenda.  
  The politics of today have strayed from the will of the people, and moved more towards party battles and ideology. In the matter of health care, this is nothing more than a fight for who will go down in the history books.
  President Obama invited Republicans to a Health Care Summit to negotiate a bipartisan bill on health care reform.
    The GOP accepted the invitation, and immediately began drafting a proposal that they believe represents the wants and needs of the American people with an affordable price tag.
   I watched the entire six hours of the Health Care Summit on CSPAN, and was sorely disappointed with the way this “bipartisan” meeting went. Republicans came to the table with official budget reports, national polls, and a fiscally responsible health reform proposal. Democrats came with sob stories, low blows, and no willingness to budge on their previously proposed health care reform bill. They made no revisions, and showed up with the same bill that polls show the American people reject.
  The GOP suggested a fresh start on reforms, and requested the Pelosi bill be thrown out and start from scratch with suggestions from both parties.
   Instead, Obama accepted only four of the GOP ideas, and the Democrats are planning a reconciliation which would allow them to pass a bill with a simple majority and maneuver around a Republican filibuster.  
   The problem with health care in this country is not that it is unobtainable; it is that it is too expensive. Work out
a deal with insurance companies, lower premiums, mandate insurance for those with pre-existing conditions, offer tax cuts to companies who provide coverage to employees, offer affordable health care policies for the unemployed, and lower the deficit at the same time. Problem solved. The GOP plan addresses all of these issues.
   I agree that we need to find a solution for problems with big insurance companies, but digging our economy into a bigger hole is not the way to do it. Under the Pelosi bill, taxes will be raised immediately on all Americans—regardless of income—to the tune of $753 billion, and reforms will be delayed by several years.  
   Also, the bill fails to include $210 billion in upcoming Medicare payments to retiring baby boomers in the budget.     
   Passage of the bill will add a 10-13 percent hike in premiums, a tax increase, and cuts to Medicare that will cost trillions and add to the national deficit.
   Not only that, but our government has proved to be unreliable when it comes to sustaining government funded programs. Just look at our postal system. The Postmaster General recently released a statement saying the post office will no longer deliver mail on Saturdays because they can’t afford it. They are rationing mail service; you don’t think they will ration health care?
   The Democrats will stop at nothing to pass a bill, no matter what its contents are, whether it is fiscally responsible, or if it is good for the people. They want it and they want it bad. Greed has taken over our health. This won’t change until our representatives put the people before their ideology.