Action Alert: Barack Back To Bashing Business

by Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Last week, President Barack Obama declared the healthcare reform debate over, saying, “Everything there is to say about health care has been said.” That didn’t stop him from hitting the road yesterday to say some more about his plan to “reform” nearly 20% of our economy. Not surprisingly, he once again resorted to bashing businesses in a desperate attempt to whip up public support for his failing initiative.

But while President Obama may be convinced that a Big Government entitlement program is the “right thing to do,” folks with more knowledge about how insurance really works are concerned about the president’s plan. Today’s New York Times reports that state insurance officials are raising red flags over “fundamental flaws” in the latest healthcare overhaul proposals. They are worried that new federal powers to dictate insurance rates (government-mandated price controls) will lead to catastrophic unintended consequences.

Here’s how Sandy Praeger, a Kansas insurance commissioner, explained it: “From a consumer protection standpoint, the most important thing we do is ensure the solvency of companies. …You are not necessarily helping the consumer if you keep rates artificially low. What’s worse for the consumer: having a premium increase or having to pay the full amount of a medical expense because the company is out of business?”

But that really doesn’t bother some Democrats. In fact, bankrupting the insurance industry and undermining the free market is a stated goal of some healthcare reform advocates. As you can see here, one liberal Democrat freely admits that the goal of healthcare reform is to create a system that bankrupts private industry and leads to socialized medicine. And that is a goal shared by Barack Obama.

Here’s another example of just how poorly the fundamentals of economics are understood by Washington’s governing elites. The Associated Press reports that the latest draft of the healthcare bill will penalize businesses for not offering benefits to part-time employees. Given the current state of the economy, why are Democrats trying to penalize job creation of any kind? Slapping business owners with healthcare fines for creating part-time jobs is a terrible idea. It’s just one more tax on job creation. I can guarantee you what will happen if Democrats succeed in creating financial disincentives for such jobs. There will be fewer of them, and it won’t result in the creation of new full-time jobs.

TAKE ACTION: The situation on Capitol Hill is very chaotic. With one eye on the calendar and a finger in the air gauging the political winds, many members of Congress are on the fence. The White House is pulling out all the stops to get the votes it needs. Please keep up the pressure on your elected representatives. Call Capitol Hill at 202-224-3121 and urge your representative to oppose this legislation. If you can’t get through to your representative’s Washington office, look up their local office numbers. Firmly but respectfully tell them to oppose the creation of another trillion-dollar entitlement program.

See also:

Mark Steyn: It's not about health care
 McConnell: November elections will be "referendum" on health care bill
 3 Dems unsure about changing healthcare votes
 The odds of a government health-care takeover
 David Limbaugh: Obama vs. insurers and the people
Gary Bauer is is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. He submitted this article in an email to the ARRA News Service Editor. Bauer was a former Republican presidential candidate and served as President Ronald Reagan’s domestic policy adviser.

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