http://www.jbs.org/health-care-freedom-blog/6016-the-presidents-proposal-bad-medicine-for-the-country The latest battle in the healthcare war is being waged using a new strategy -- the circumvention of the intent, spirit, and true definition of the legislative process by folding the health care bill into a budget bill and using the budget reconciliation process to facilitate passage. The 1974 reconciliation method is the perfect vehicle to navigate around certain obstacles, like a Republican filibuster. Besides, the budget reconciliation process only requires a 51-vote majority in the Senate.
President Obama and his administration have unveiled “The President’s Proposal,” a health care bill that is a combination of the Senate and House versions, but heavy on the Senate version. Unfortunately, it too, is unconstitutional and is camouflage for a government takeover of this country’s healthcare system.
As of March 3, the Democrats' strategy for passing President Obama's health care plan is to have the House first pass the health care reform bill that was passed by the Senate back on December 24th. The House would do this on the basis that the Senate would then pass a bill with changes in the Senate health care bill as per President Obama's plan and as requested by House Democrats. This new Senate bill could be passed with only a 51-vote majority under the budget reconciliation process. Next, the House would pass the Senate reconciliation bill and the result would be final passage of President Obama's health care plan as embodied in the combination of the Senate health care bill of December 24 and the new health care reconciliation bill which would modify the Senate's original bill as per Obama's health care plan with last-minute tweaking by Senate and House Democrats.
Congressional Republicans are not going to sit idly by while all of this legislative maneuvering happens. They plan to use everything at their disposal to delay and possibly torpedo the Democrats' legislative strategy.
The New York Times reports that although no official cost analysis has been completed on Obama’s proposal, the White House admits that the plan would cost about $950 billion over 10 years, which is more than the Senate version, but less than the House’s. The plan would extend coverage to more than 31 million Americans by 2019. And the excise tax to pay for this latest unconstitutional health care budget buster would be delayed for insurers and employers until 2018.
Obama’s plan would actually expand the role of federal regulators, czars and overseers, in order to review premium increases in individual states. Mr. Obama would “call on the federal secretary of health and human services to work with state regulators to review premium increases,” while “superseding the authority of state regulators only if they refused to act in the face of excessive rate hikes.”
Language pertaining to abortion coverage in the Senate version remains as government officials “believe they cannot make changes to the Senate language on abortion” when using budget reconciliation. One interpretation of the provision is that insurance plans that cover abortions are eligible to receive federal subsidies, while another interpretation suggests that the bill would establish a separate premium to segregate funds used to pay for abortions, but just how this is done and how it keeps the taxpayers’ money from paying for abortions is not exactly clear.
The bottom line is that congressional passage of President Obama's Health Care Plan would amount to an unconstitutional, government takeover of one-sixth of our nation's economy. With sufficient public outcry from the grassroots this freedom-destroying health care plan can still be stopped.
Email your senators and representative in strong opposition to the President's Health Care Plan. Follow up with personal visits, phone calls, and faxes, and let them know you are opposed to an immediate or eventual government takeover of this country’s health care system.
Topic: Obama's Health Care Plan: Bad Medicine for the Country (Read 451 times)