Lies, Earmarks And Corruption All In One Bill
By PETER HOEKSTRA AND JOHN SHADEGG
Posted 06:15 PM ET
We are nominating Sen. Baucus' health care reform bill for the Pulitzer
Prize - for fiction.
Like works of great fiction writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Joseph Conrad
and F. Scott Fitzgerald, the story line of the Baucus bill is not what it
seems and is in fact a clever subterfuge of what health care reform will
mean for the American people.
Hiding behind this facade is another story about a massive power grab by the
Washington political establishment.
The bill is loaded with fiction. To begin with, it purports to reduce the
deficit. This is really an Enron-style scam with the bill's massive new
taxes starting on day one and its dramatic new health care expenditures,
which will far exceed the tax revenues, beginning in year four.
Hence its favorable score: 10 years of revenue, seven of expenditures. In
the private sector, people go to jail for this type of accounting; in the
U.S. Senate, they trumpet it as good news.
The Baucus bill claims to treat all Americans equitably, yet four states
receive Medicaid exemptions - the federal government will pick up the
state's share of Medicaid costs - for five years. That means taxpayers in 46
states will subsidize other states, including Nevada, so Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid can bring home the bacon and get re-elected.
Sen. Chuck Schumer put in a little-noticed provision that exempts New
Yorkers and taxpayers from some other states from the bill's tax on
gold-plated insurance plans. The result: The rest of the nation will
subsidize the health care of New Yorkers and a few others.
If you're lucky enough to live in one of the favored states, you win. If
not, you lose. Guess how many of those states are blue and have Democratic
senators up for re-election? Hardly seems fair, does it? Huge earmarks and
health care favoritism for states served by powerful Washington elites.
There are other massive earmarks in this bill. Up to $10 billion will go to
VEBA, such as the underfunded retirement health care package of United Auto
Workers retirees. This may or may not be a good idea, but it clearly does
not belong in this legislation. The bill has huge, new mandated costs on the
states for Medicaid.
The bill has huge, new mandated costs on the states for Medicaid, and there
are many other costs omitted from the bill that will need to be paid for by
taxpayers. The bill claims savings it says will be achieved by reducing
reimbursement rates to doctors and hospitals. This has never happened in the
past and won't now. It is pure fiction.
All the bill have one thing in common that's seldom mentioned, QAR
(Quantitative Analysis Review) which is a cost analysis of care versus life
expectancy. If your young and need $100,000 worth of care it might work out
to something like $1000 a year for your life but if your 70 it works out to
$12,000 a year and it would be denied. This is similar to what is practiced
in England and Canada. Your life has a dollar value and based on age and
cost of treatment all plans private or public option will be under the same
guidelines imposed by these bill.
There's more fiction in both the Senate and House versions. Despite Democrat
claims to the contrary, both will cover illegal aliens and abortion, and
virtually no Americans will be able to keep their existing plan. The
legislation will cost billions more than estimated. The numbers and the
promises just don't work.
Most importantly, and this is what the legislation is really about, the
Baucus bill will transfer power from the American people to Washington
elites - a power grab far more massive than it appears. Just think about it,
the fiction (yes, some would call it lies) you're hearing about today is
happening while people are watching.
Imagine what will happen with earmarks, political favoritism and social
engineering when the details are negotiated by government bureaucrats,
lobbyists and the Obama administration's "health czar" behind closed doors.
Putting politicians in charge will mean health care Soviet-gulag-style. If
you're powerful and connected, you'll be just fine. If not, too bad. This is
certain to get ugly.
Americans need to recognize what this is about. It is not about the quality
or quantity of health care. It is about power, who will have it and who will
give it up. It is about fiction. No, correct that - it is about an
Enron-style accounting and bringing Washington-style corruption to health
care.
Rather than rein in the power and control health care plans have now, and
impose savings discipline by shifting that control to average Americans so
they can get the care they choose, the bill empowers career politicians in
Congress and Washington bureaucrats.
Actually, this bill doesn't deserve a Pulitzer even though it is ingenious
and cleverly written - it deserves a criminal indictment for false,
deceptive and misleading advertising.
The American people need to stand up and say no to this callous grab of
power by Washington elites.
This is the first real test of the Tea Party movement to influence public
policy. Americans are counting on their elected representatives to protect
them from a tragically flawed health care bill.
Grass-roots America needs to speak out before it is too late. If not now,
when? Time is running out.
. Hoekstra is a Republican congressman from Michigan.
. Shadegg is a Republican congressman from Arizona.
From: husseinflopNOBAMA |
