The following is a letter for Blue Dog Democrats that was made by and circulated by members of Individuals United for Freedom, a group who feels passionately about protecting our Constitutional rights and puts their point of view over in a respectful but assertive manner.

There are many excellent points made in this letter.  I welcome any comments that you care to share with me on it.

Dear Congressman:

I’m writing to express mty opposition to the healthcare “reform”legislation that has been voted out of committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.  However, after watching several key senators interviewd on CNBC coupled with the reticence of many members of the Blue Dog Coalition to rush the ill-advised legislation through before the August recess, I am at least somewhat encouraged that a common sense, serious debate may still be possible when addressing an issue of such vast importance for this nation.

I believe that H.R. 3200 is a travesty and neither the administration nor the House leadership have been honest about its cost or its impact on the healthcare delivery system and, more critically, American patients.  Not only can’t we afford it, there is no way a private insurer can compete with a government-subsidized, tax-exempt program and the proposed regulations are writen in such a way that tens of millions of Americans will be forced into the government “option” giving up their current plan with which they are very satisfied.  Why should we turn our system over to a bureaucracy  that has driven Medicare and Medicaid toward bankruptcy while adding or expanding more than fifty government agencies?  I like my current healthcare insurance-please don’t take it away from me!

I am a baby boomer aproaching retirement age and I am etrified about what the propolsed plan and half trillion-dollar Medicare cut will mean to me.  Specifically:

  • I don’t want rationed health care, to be told I can’t get treatment because I’m too old and no longer a worthwhile contributor to the greater good of society
  • I don’t want to be told the operation is too expensive for me because I don’t have enough remaining years in my life
  • I don’t want to be told that I should “take a pain pill and just get used to it”
  • I don’t need mandatory end-of-life counseling to encourage me to go comfortably to my death
  • I don’t want the government playing G-d with my life.

The President said two-thirds of the cost of the proposed legislation will be financed by wrining out the fraud and abuse in the current Medicare/Medicaid programs.

Legislation for that is not needed, so why not just do it to bring down healthcare costs significantly (and shouldn’t you waith until the savings are actually realized before you spend them like I have to do in my own house)?

The absence of tort reform- it’s never mentioned- and the threats of relentless litigation and outrageous judements have caused massive escalations of malpractice insurance premiums.  It encourages physicians to order multiple costly tests, in part, to provide them needed protection, driving healthcare costs dramatically higher.  it must be addressed.

Allowing purchase of health insurance across state lines (it works with car insurance) and establishing non-profit, non-government insurance cooperatives would also increase competition brining premiums down while preserving our free market structure and thus deserve consideration.  The goal of providing insurance to currently uninsurable Americans and to immigrants here legally is admirable and the savings mentioned above should address that problem economically.

Contrary to the President’s perorations, the healthcare system is not broken-it is the best and most innovative in the world. (It must be. People from abroad, particularly in countries with socialized medicine, come here for treatment.  We don’t go there!)  Yes it needs reform; no it doesn’t need dismantling and it certainly does not need to be destroyed.  Take healthcare reform step by step to see what does and doesn’t work-we don’t need everything crammed down at once!  Test different options at the state level before mandating them nationwide.

I am both angry and scared.  Our budget must be brought under control, and that is the sole responsibility of Congress.  I was brought up believing that we were “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.  With each vote that balloons our deficit and expands the reach and power of central government (e.g. stimulus and budget packages), I lose more of my liberty.  With each vote that raises taxes and impedes my ability to maintain my economic independence (Cap-and Trade tax bill), my pursuit of happiness turns ito a pursuit of survival.  And if this healthcare bill is passed in anything near its present form, turning decisions about my health into dollars and cents decisions made by an “independent board” of government bureaucrats, my most precious right, my life, is jeopardized, too.

Why is this happening?  Is it simply an attempt to promote the biggest transfer of power from the people to the government in the name of a radical ideology?  Is this the destruction of limited government, personal freedom and individual responsibility?  I hope not-we need representatives who think frugally, independently, beyond party lines, who use common sense and do what’s best for Americans, particularly those most vulnerable.

The Blue Dogs willingness to take a step back and participate in meaningful discussion has given me hope that perhaps you think that way too.