October 24, 2009

Death, Taxes and Two Trillion Lies

By Melissa Cross

President Obama promised not to raise taxes on people earning less than $200,000 per year and vowed not to increase the national debt "by one nickel." He promised that his nearly-trillion-dollar stimulus plan would keep the unemployment rate below 8%. (Last month, our unemployment rate was 9.8%, the highest it's been in 26 years.)

In January 2008, then-candidate Obama promised not to negotiate behind closed doors with health care lobbyists. In fact, he committed to "broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are. Because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process[.]"

But Politico reported that aides to President Obama and Democrat Senator Max Baucus met with corporate lobbyists in April 2009 to help "set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in bolstering public support for health care reform." I turned on C-SPAN, but I couldn't find any mention of the Obama administration's lobbyist meeting.

After his election, President Obama said, "Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency." And we all watched the "Stunning Hypocrisy" as senate democrats met behind closed doors determining our socialized health care fate.

One promise President Obama intends on keeping: "When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." This is why he is pushing his healthcare plan so vigorously. ObamaCare is a major stepping stone in his strategy for income redistribution. President Obama says that our health care system is in crisis and needs to be fixed now (and, his actions say, with or without general public approval). Thomas Jefferson once said, "Crisis is the rallying cry of a tyrant." I tend to side with Thomas Jefferson.

How do we normal, everyday Americans, sort through all of the deception to find the truth? Well, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid slipped up just last week and let Americans hear the truth. $2.4 TRILLION!!! Well, Mr. Reid, Americans can do the math! There are now 305,529,237 people living in this country. If annual health care expenditures are going to be two trillion dollars, then this amounts to $6,546.02 for every man, woman, and child. A family of four, for example, will have to come up with $26,184.07. Every year.

If the Democrats succeed in overhauling health care, the average American family will bear the costs. The Senate Finance bill is effectively a middle class tax increase, and as Holtz-Eakin points out, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, those making less than $200,000 will be hit hardest. And what will we be paying for? Doctor visits for those who couldn't otherwise afford it?

What happened to Medicaid? I thought that's what that social program was for. But wait... Medicaid doesn't cover abortions. Back in August, Congress passed legislation that included the provision for public funding in the case of all elective abortions. A report by the Associated Press in early August confirmed that the legislation would allow the government plan to cover abortions and "recast federal policy" on abortion.

What happened to Medicare? That social program was made to help seniors with their coverage. I contend (and I am not alone) that aging baby boomers and existing elderly will also be among the hardest groups hit. After patient advocate and former Lt. Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey finished reading the House bill on healthcare reform, she was appalled by its vicious assault on the elderly and the boomer generation. For example, in an interview on the Fred Thompson show, McCaughey reports that page 425 of the bill states that Congress would require mandatory counseling every five years for Medicare seniors on how to shorten their lives by declining nutrition, hydration, etc., for example. They would be required to receive the counseling again once diagnosed with a serious disease such as cancer.

After wading through the rubble of ObamaCare and getting down to the hard facts, what do we find? A lot of death, additional taxes, and two trillion lies -- all with the goal of replacing the greatness of America with a vast mediocrity. Slippery is the slope that leads to a socialist America.