According to a report in The Hill, Harry Reid is planning a Saturday night vote on his massive health care bill. Following Nancy Pelosi's lead in sneaking things through just before midnight, I suppose he thinks we won't notice.
I continue to be amazed at what our runaway legislators are willing to do. The majority of Americans do not want health care reform that totally remakes the system at astronomical costs to the taxpayers. The latest Rasmussen poll shows that only forty-seven percent (47%) of voters approve the health care overhaul. That number is the highest ever, but still shows that less than half of American voters approve.
According to The Hill article, Reid says he has at least abandoned his plans for pushing the bill through using budget reconciliation rules. This would allow passage with only 51 votes instead of the normally required 60 votes. I, for one, don't believe him. I watched the power plays, backroom dealings and shenanigans used by Nancy Pelosi to get her version of the bill passed two weeks ago. Although there is usually more decorum in the Senate, I expect more of the same. The pork plate will be handed around and Reid will get his way.
The estimated cost of this bill is hard for me to fathom. According to The Hill article:
The healthcare reform bill Reid introduced Wednesday would spend $848 billion over 10 years to extend insurance coverage to 31 million more people, which would amount to a 94 percent coverage rate for all legal U.S. residents below retirement age. Including those over 65 and enrolled in Medicare, 98 percent of legal U.S. residents would have insurance coverage, Reid said.
Through a combination of more than $400 billion in Medicare spending cuts and more than $370 billion in new taxes, the bill also would reduce the federal budget deficit by $127 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
This is a lie. The taxes required to pay for this monstrosity begin immediately; the benefits begin in 2014. We will pay taxes for 5 years on something we do not have access to. How fair is that? What about all the lives that will be lost during those five years due to lack of health insurance? If the House and Senate are so concerned about lives lost due to lack of health insurance, why not make it available now? If there is such a rush to pass this legislation, why must we wait five years to get the coverage? Can, or will, anyone please give me the answer?
Reid and Company are doing creative accounting by putting off the benefits until they have collected five years worth of taxes, thus making the cost appear lower than they will actually be. Slight-of-hand that would make P.T. Barnum proud! That's all it is. If I can figure it out (and I'm self-educated) surely everyone else can! How stupid do our elected officials think we are?
Don't believe they are going to raise your taxes? Check out the tax hikes that go with the bill here. Scroll down past the cartoon (it is cute, but hey, this is serious). And read the list. Everything will in some way hit your wallet, so don't say, "well I don't have that" or "that doesn't apply to me". It all applies to you, me, and everyone else.
Melt your Senator's phone lines.
Pray.
Right now I think prayer and otherworldly intervention is the only hope we have.
The government will soon rule every aspect of our lives. The tipping point of power is here. It may already be behind us. Are we still a nation governed of, by and for the people? Or are we subjects to King Obama, Prince Harry and Princess Pelosi?
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