If President Obama signs into law a health care bill that looks anything like the version that the Senate passed on Christmas eve, he will be making a historic mistake that will be felt for generations to come. Democrats are planning to use a legislative vehicle known as reconciliation to pass the bill, which requires 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the traditional 60. They claim that reconciliation is a simple “up or down” vote, but the reality is that Democrats have resorted to this tactic since they can't even find a single Republican to support their plan.
That's because no one that has even an inch of fiscal conservatism in them would vote for this monstrosity of a bill. The President has repeatedly claimed “if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year ... you will not see your taxes go up.” Obama actually broke his pledge a little over a month after taking office, when, in February 2009, he signed a bill that raises taxes on cigarettes. But the tax hikes in his health care bill are far more damaging. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Senate health care bill contains nearly half a trillion dollars in new taxes on medical devices, so-called “Cadillac” health plans, insurance companies, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and many more. Taxes are passed on to the consumer, and will make care and procedures more expensive for everyone.
The President also says “if you like what you have, you can keep it.” This is not true. The health care bill cuts $500 billion out of Medicare, and kicks millions of seniors off of Medicare Advantage.
The President demonizes the health care industry, but conveniently forgets to mention the individual mandate, which uses the force of government to require that everyone have a health care plan, even if you are young and health like many college students. Obama's approach to an industry he hates is a novel one: force everyone to buy their product. Or, as ABC's Byron Wolf titled a recent blog post: “A Complicated Enemy: Obama Seeks to Vilify Health Insurers, Give Them $336 Billion Check.”
Unfortunately, the Senate health care bill is a disaster for job creators. The National Federation of Independent Business, the leading small business lobby says: “Jamming through this job killing healthcare bill would dump disproportionate costs on already strained small businesses, while providing unfair exemptions for big business and labor unions; this is simply not reasonable reform.”
The Chamber of Commerce, which represents over 3 million businesses, says: “Ramming the Senate bill through the House and then using the nuclear option to make adjustments is the wrong approach.”
The National Association of Manufacturers, representing business critical to
President Obama and the Democratic leadership had plenty of opportunities to incorporate free-market ideas into their bill, but instead they opted for photo ops and fake “bipartisan” summits. There is no meaning tort reform, interstate competition, or spending reductions that will help lower costs. Instead, the Senate bill piles trillions into an already-broken system, and avoids serious problems like eliminating the employer-based tax exclusion.
Moderate House Democrats should not vote for President Obama's train wreck of a health care bill. If they do, they will be committing political suicide and their constituents will deal with them appropriately. Worse, they will endorse a bill that raises taxes, hikes health care costs, and gives bureaucrats the power to decide what is best for the American people.
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