I called to express a concern that the current bill was going to bankrupt us and to make it absolutely clear I opposed the PUBLIC OPTION that has since been added to the bill. Yet in true democratic form, ignoring the hewn cry, form around the nation, by educated and concerned doctors and citizens. However, this is a representative republic so I understand the insanity that is going on in Washington at break neck paces, bad pun intended. In the Democrats rush to prevent the people from discovering the truly horrific nature of this PUBLIC OPTION, lies a the clearest evidence that this has little to with health care and much to do with the insanity of their desire to limit personal liberties and freedoms..
Below is the form letter, followed by my response to his form letter, not that he will ever bother to listen to his constitution-loving constituents.
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October 27, 2009
Dear Mr. Royce: Thank you for contacting me about insurance and health care reform. I appreciate you taking time to share your thoughts regarding plans in Congress to address the complex issues of insurance and health care costs. I believe health care should be accessible and affordable for all Americans. The need for insurance and health care reform is great. Medical costs are out of control and now tie up one-sixth of the national economy. More than 133,000 Alaskans are uninsured - nearly 20 percent of our population. The cost of their uncompensated care is passed on to those with insurance. This means Alaska families, on average, pay an additional $1,900 a year in premium costs due to this "hidden tax" and insurance premiums for individuals are $710 higher than they should be. Health insurance reform would provide Americans the security of:
- No discrimination for pre-existing conditions,
- No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays,
- No cost-sharing for preventative care,
- No dropping of coverage for seriously ill,
- No gender discrimination,
- No annual or lifetime caps on coverage,
- Children continue to be eligible for family coverage through age 26,
- Insurance can't refuse renewal because someone became sick.
Health care insurance reform is essential for small businesses. Even a middle-of the-road version of health reform could save America's small businesses $800 billion over the next 10 years - money that can be used to innovate, increase productivity, hire more workers and pay better wages. There has been great progress towards a solution on insurance and health care reform. Three committees in the House of Representatives came together to introduce combined legislation. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Senate Finance Committees have passed their bills. Senate leadership is currently merging the two Senate bills to produce a version to bring before the full Senate. Again, thank you for contacting me. I will continue to work with my Senate colleagues to make health care affordable, and will keep your comments in mind as I do so.Sincerely, Mark Begich U.S.
Senator
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Honorable Senator Begich (and fellow Toastmaster), While I agree that there a problems that need to be addressed with the system. I STRONGLY DISAGREE with the PUBLIC OPTION! It is always a BAD FINANCIAL decision to employ government! It is always a BAD LIBERTY decision to employ government! What is called for is LESS GOVERNMENT, not more! Your last term as mayor is a perfect example that you could choose to profit from experientially. Consider the long-term contracts that have now burdened the city, (and I am a biased commentator as I am an IBEW member). They have saddled the current set of city leaders with the inescapable necessity of layoffs. That is due in no small part to your choice to enter into a more government solution to the situation. Yes, anytime you increase wages to a government employee; regardless of the overall number of jobs (unless you reduce the total number of employees sufficiently to account for the increased costs,) you are engaging in a big government solution. I know you are philosophically interested in "helping the little guy" as you see the situation. However, in this case your "help" is costing the little guy his job. In this economy it is always better to have a job albeit underpaying than no job. Your actions have hurt the economy as well because with each individual who gets laid off it decreases the amount of public sector disposable income that gets transferred back to the private sector. The transfer is to be understood as money that was originally removed, (by means of implicate threat,) from the private sector that is now returning in a much skewed fashion. You speak admirably of the need to reduce the cost of health care and I am sure you believe what you say. However, it is this very PUBLIC OPTION that you are advancing that is going to have the chilling effect upon the overall effectiveness of what is without argument the best health care money can buy. This is why so many foreign nationals come to the United States to receive the “latest care techniques”. Your blind party allegiance is not "helping the little guy". It is quite simple the reason the "little guy", like myself is in trouble in the first place. Think for a minute what would happen if I had an additional 10K in disposable income through out the year, without the corresponding increase in "legalized plunder" from the governments both local and federal. Would I need the free lunch program for my 5 children? Would I need a subsidy to buy milk? Would I need assistance with my heating bill in the winter? Would a subsidy be needed to help me winterize and improve the energy rating of my house? The answer to every one of those questions in my family's case is NO. Sir, I STRONGLY DISAGREE with your insistence that the PUBLIC OPTION is to my families benefit. Regardless of the "savings" in the short-term it is a destructive system that will only deliver long-term increases in cost and decreases in service. I have seen what rampant inflation does, when I lived in the Ukraine in the post Soviet era, and it is crippling! That is not a non sequitur, either, because when government runs out of funds to pay for an entitlement program it has two choices, stop the program or print more money. When the government runs into difficulty paying for this PUBLIC OPTION which the GAO and other agency reports have clearly shown it will. What will be Washington's response?
Senator, you and I both know that Washington's wheels will empower the Federal Reserve to print more Dollars which will only decrease the value of existing Dollars. Increasing the overall cost of healthcare purchased with those dollars. This is the unintended consequences of your best intentions of "helping out" with medical costs is a devalued US Dollar, which will more and more resemble the currency used within the popular board game Monopoly. This will spiral a little more out of control with every “good intentioned helping hand” offered to assist “the little guy”. The net result is decrease in the affordability of the goods and services we take for granted in this the Greatest Nation ever to rise from the myriad mists of history. Your job as a Senator is to look at the TRUE LONG-TERM COSTS, not the political short-term needs of any one ethically challenged political colleague, regardless of their status within your chosen political party. Remember you ran saying you were a man of principle compared to Uncle Ted. The only question now is: Are you going to live up to that promise or are you going to play politics as usual. I urge you to BE A REAL MEN OF PRINCIPLE, who STANDS FOR TRUE LIBERTY, as our Founding Fathers envisioned it! Sincerely an Annoyed Constitution-loving, Union Member and Independent Super-Voter, John Royce
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Yes this was a long post, the moral of which is call and write your Senators and Representative(s), regardless of your perceived effectiveness. It is our sacred responsibility to utilize our dearly purchased freedoms to maintain the cause of LIBERTY!
