RichardCYoung.com » This Isn’t A Game

Obamacare Repeal in Action

Deborah Young — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:29:30 +0000

Below is a letter from Congressman John Fleming, a doctor and advocate for the repeal of Obamacare. Now that conservatives have power in the House, Fleming’s proposals to end the Obamacare nightmare should receive a fair hearing. As you’ll read in Fleming’s letter, insurers are cutting coverage and raising prices in response to the passage of Obamacare. Is that what the president promised when he said “You can keep your coverage if you like it?”

FLEMING HEALTH CARE REPEAL UPDATE Health Care Reform = Fewer Choices for Insurance Products “Having 30 million new people, many with tax credits to buy health insurance, is going to spur new entrants [insurance companies].” – Nancy-Ann DeParle, head of the White House Office of Health Reform.Despite the Obama administration’s claims that the new health reform law will expand competition in the insurance market, the facts are bleak. Already companies are pulling out of specific markets, and some smaller companies have stopped offering health insurance altogether.

In September, Principal Financial Group, an Iowa-based insurance company that provides coverage to about 840,000 people, announced plans to stop selling health insurance. According to Principal Financial Group, which caters to small businesses, its exit from the insurance market is in part because under the new health care reform, smaller insurers will have a harder time competing with bigger companies. It has been reported that UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest health insurer in the United States by revenue, will renew the Principal policies as the contracts expire. This hardly sounds like increased competition!

Similarly, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna Inc, Cigna Corp. and others recently announced that they will halt new “child-only” policies in California, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut and elsewhere because of mandates of the new health care reform law. Cigna Corp., which will halt the policies in 10 states, stated that they made the decision to stop offering “child-only” policies, “to ensure that we can remain competitive in the 10 markets where we sell individual and family plans.”

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: With fewer insurance companies competing in the market, more of the market is now controlled by a few big insurance companies. This will likely mean higher prices and fewer choices available to consumers. Limiting insurance choices for Americans is the wrong solution for lowering the cost of health care.

THE DOCTOR’S DIAGNOSIS: We have just seen the tip of the iceberg as this new health care reform law continues to be implemented. I believe it is inevitable that families will see fewer options, less competition and higher premium prices. The new health care reform bill must be repealed. Rest assured I will continue to work to repeal what I firmly believe to be an onerous and unconstitutional health care reform law and find market-based solutions to our health care needs.

Sincerely,

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress

P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/repjohnfleming or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming

America Unprepared for Terrorist Attack

Deborah Young — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:39:37 +0000

‘We Are Totally Unprepared’ – Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal
Every government report of the past eight years points to a terrorist attack on U.S. soil as not only likely but virtually certain. But almost nine years after 9/11, a report just released from the Inspector General of the Justice Department shows how ill-prepared and out of touch our government agencies are in dealing with a WMD incident. There is not an entity or individual with clear responsibility for managing a response. Resources have not been catalogued, and there are no written plans or checklists in case of an attack. In light of the apathetic response in the first 30 days and the ongoing finger pointing by this administration to the catastrophic oil mess in the Gulf, what can we citizens expect should we face an attack of greater proportions than those of 9/11?

Obama Bungles Oil Spill Response

Deborah Young — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:43:34 +0000

The risks of deepwater drilling are just starting to be recognized, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. The U.S. oil industry has had a remarkable safety record, but no oil company has an effective plan for dealing with a major spill. Minerals Management Service (MMS) has failed miserably in requiring the stockpiling of the equipment that has taken BP five weeks to assemble for stopping the spill. And despite claiming that the technology used by the oil industry is safe, a tight-jawed Obama, just weeks after announcing his intention of drilling for oil, is finding the reality of drilling at 5,000 feet to be quite different than the administration’s claims.

President Obama’s handling of the oil spill shows his true narcissism. He has done everything possible to focus blame for the handling of the response on BP, and in good lawyerly fashion, to dissociate himself from the issue. President Obama has only angered many Americans who now have seen his failures in representing them threefold. First in his insistence on pushing through a massive government takeover of healthcare, then in a refusal to adequately police the border, and now in a wishy-washy response to the oil spill.

Below is another update from Congressman John Fleming who continues his fight to hold his fellow congressmen accountable for their disingenuous actions throughout the passage of Obamacare.

FLEMING HEALTH CARE UPDATE

As the author of H Res 615, a resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public Health Care plan, I have an important update.

Due to an overwhelming response from Americans across the country to my office, the health bill recently signed into law will indeed require members of Congress to abandon their federal health benefits and enroll in the newly created exchanges.

While those of us who supported this important requirement have won the first round, we have not won the war. There is a move afoot to “fix” the language of this provision.

Together, we can make sure the people’s voice is heard.

Sincerely,
JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress

Take $10 Billion from the IRS

Deborah Young — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:42:42 +0000

Rather than letting Americans keep their money so they can afford to buy their own health care insurance, Obamacare spends $10 billion to hire IRS agents to take their money from them. Congressman John Fleming has been in the vanguard in the fight against the hypocrisy written into Obamacare. Now, Fleming has written H.R. 5066, which would prohibit new IRS hiring to enforce Obamacare’s draconian mandates and taxes. Below is a letter written by Congressman Fleming.

FLEMING HEALTH CARE UPDATE

The New Health Care Legislation Will Require Up To 16,000 New IRS Auditors!!

As the author of H Res 615, a resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public Health Care plan, I have another important update.

The Congressional Budget Office has recently said that the IRS will require as much as $10 billion in additional funding to implement the new health care law, and some have estimated that this funding would allow the IRS to hire as many as 16,000 or more new employees to force American taxpayers to comply with the new taxes and a potentially unconstitutional mandate!

This month I introduced H.R. 5066, legislation that would prohibit the IRS from hiring any new employee to enforce the health care bill. We must continue to keep the pressure on!

Together, we can make sure the people’s voice is heard.

Sincerely,

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress

P.S. If you’d like more information, please take a minute to visit my newly redesigned website at www.fleming.house.gov or follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/repfleming.

FLEMING HEALTH CARE UPDATE

Deborah Young — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:39:05 +0000

Below is the text of a letter written to my by John Fleming, a congressman, and medical doctor, from Louisiana’s 4th district. Congressman Fleming wrote H Res 615, a resolution that forced members of congress to take their own medicine and sign up for public health insurance upon signing of Obamacare. Now the congressmen who voted so enthusiastically to stick Americans with the Obamacare exchanges are trying to find any reason they can to get out of the exchanges themselves.

“As the author of H Res 615, a resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public Health Care plan, I have an important update.

Due to an overwhelming response from Americans across the country to my office, the health bill recently signed into law will indeed force members of Congress to abandon their federal health benefits and enroll in the newly created exchanges.

While we have won the first round, we may have not won the war. There is a move afoot to “fix” the language of this provision.

That’s why it is important for me to communicate with you and provide you with information as it is available to me.

A great way to do this is to follow me on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/repfleming.

Please sign up today….let’s be sure this provision isn’t undone! www.twitter.com/repfleming

Together, we can make sure the people’s voice is heard.

Sincerely,

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.
Member of Congress”

What Could Have Been and What You Can Do Now

Deborah Young — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:23:47 +0000

Gary Becker, Nobel Prize winner and founder, along with Milton Friedman, of the Chicago school of economics, notes in a recent WSJ interview that ObamaCare does not address the weaknesses in our health-care system. Instead it taxes, regulates and mandates. A good bill would have included:

1. Expansion of Health Saving Accounts.

2. Permission to purchase insurance across state lines, which would have increased competition among insurers

3. Extend tax deductibility of health care spending to individuals, not just employers.

4. Encourage consumers through incentives to pay a larger portion of their health-care costs out of their own pockets.

Repealing ObamaCare will be very difficult, Mr. Becker warns, and Americans, especially our younger generation, will have to fight for their freedom.

Which brings me to the fighting part. Obama, George Soros, and Andy Stern, to name a few, are following Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals to a T. The Left is dedicated to changing the fundamentals of our country and its core values. And ObamaCare is just the beginning. Unless we fight back, there will be more mandates, more regulation, and more spending and taxes. The Obama administration is a runaway train that is not going to stop. If you love what is precious to our country–our freedom and independence based on capitalism, a free market, and an entrepreneurial spirit–please read Rich Lowry’s “Help Us Fight Back” in NRO. National Review On Line has terrific writers (Mark Steyn, Jonah Goldberg, Andrew C. McCarthy, Victor Hanson, Thomas Sowell) and links to other conservative views and analysis, but it is in need of financial help. Dick and I have each contributed to the Emergency NRO Webathon. Please do what you can. The heart and soul of our country is at stake.

Back to Square one

Deborah Young — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:59:33 +0000

Thomas Sowell has sensible ideas on how to help fix, not ruin, our medical system, which, as he notes, is among the best in the world.

1. Pass federal legislation that would end state legislation of insurance companies and thus mandates. Insurance companies are forced to pay for everything from wigs to marriage counseling, depending upon which special interest groups have the most power within each state.

2. Doctors and hospitals are forced to practice “defensive” medicine in order to protect themselves from being sued by unscrupulous lawyers. Tort reform is a must.

As Mr. Sowell points out, some people are willing to pay more for a private room rather than be in a room with one or more other patients. That’s a simple economic fact of life. Get off the “Cadillac” health plan nonsense. This is nothing but class warfare.

Health Care Time Bomb

Deborah Young — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:00:08 +0000

A couple of years ago, when Dick and I were in Italy, we frequently heard random references to the birth rate declining there, as it is in most of Europe. Young couples just were not having babies. When we asked why this was so, the answers ranged from careers first to religious indifference to “babies cost too much.” With people everywhere living longer than ever and with science’s ability to extend lifespan beyond what was once considered “natural,” the baby-shortage has the making of a demographic tsunami. Jonathan Grant and Stijn Hoorens of the Rand Europe research group write, “Demographers and economists foresee that 30 million Europeans of working age will ‘disappear’ by 2050. At the same time, retirement will be lasting decades as the number of people in their 80s and 90s increases dramatically.” Messrs. Grant and Stijn maintain that a decline in tax contributions from an ever-shrinking work force coupled with an ever-increasing welfare and health-care system is the tipping point for disaster. Simply put: who will pay for the pensions of all those long-living retirees? Mark Steyn outlines in National Review, the inherent dangers of government health care, government-paid vacation, government-funded early retirement, etc. And while America is not yet Europe, the obscene entitlements so loved by President Obama and Pelosi and Reid and so longed for by Andy Stern will elbow us closer to a Greek-type tragedy.

Enroll Congress in the Public Option

Deborah Young — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:00:30 +0000

Below is the text of a letter I received from Congressman John Fleming who represents Louisiana’s 4^th District in the House of Representatives. I contacted Congressman Fleming in support of H. Res. 615, a resolution to enroll representatives in the public option if one were to ever be passed.

If Congress has the poor judgment to force Americans to accept the creation of a public option, they should lead the way in enrolling it in themselves. Perhaps once enrolled, Congress could get a better view of the mess they had created.

Letter from Rep. John Fleming:

Dear Deborah,
Because you have previously contacted my office by email in support of H. Res. 615, my resolution calling on Members of Congress to enroll in the public option, I wanted to give you an update.
Like many of you, I am deeply concerned that Congress will press forward to enact an intrusive government administered health care plan, despite the higher costs and lowered level of care other countries with similar systems have experienced.

You will be pleased to know that more than 100 Members of Congress joined in support of H. Res. 615, my common sense measure calling on Members who vote for an intrusive government-administered health care plan to enroll in that system. Since launching this effort, nearly 3 million Americans like you have contacted my office in support of H. Res. 615. In response I offered an amendment to the Democratic Leadership health care bill to automatically enroll all Members of Congress and all Senators in the public option. Predictably, my amendment was rejected out of hand by the Majority and was not given a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Common sense seems to have failed us in the health care debate. That is why I offered a resolution asking Members of Congress to put their “money where their mouth is” and call for Members who support a public option lead by example and be required to enroll in the public option themselves. If a Member is willing to vote for such an option, why shouldn’t they enroll in it?

THE DOCTOR’S DIAGNOSIS: There is no doubt about it; health care in America must be reformed. The answer, however, is not an intrusive government administered health care plan. As a practicing physician for over 30 years, I am concerned that the kind of “reform” being debated back and forth on Capitol Hill will insert Washington bureaucrats between patients and their doctors, burden the middle class with new taxes, and raise insurance premiums for almost everyone. That is unacceptable “reform.” I will continue to work to represent you and to bring common sense back to this debate.

You can also click these links to follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

JOHN FLEMING, M.D.

A Tale of Two Countries

Deborah Young — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:00:36 +0000

Dick and I are going to Paris and Istanbul in April, and we are enjoying reading, studying and watching movies about all things French. Our daughter, Becky, gave us Julia Child’s My Life in France, as well as Au Revoir to All That-Food, Wine, and The End of France, in which Michael Steinberger writes an entertaining and lively discourse on France’s culinary cataclysm and the myriad reasons for its upheaval. Michael’s chapter (pg. 41-57) on France’s culinary, political and cultural demise under Mitterrand and Chirac depressingly parallels the staggering financial and socialistic debacle the Obama administration is trying to foist on the U.S.

As Michael notes, when Francois Mitterrand took office in 1981, the economy was already hurting, but within two years in office, he made what might have been a temporary economic downturn into a permanent one. Mitterrand decided that the country would spend its way to recovery, with no budgetary restraint. Government spending increased 23% and surged 27% the following year. Social security spending went up by 20%, the minimum wage was raised by 40%, and hundreds of thousands of government positions were created, replete with lavish benefits and pensions.

Two years later, inflation was at 12%, unemployment had increased by nearly one-third and stood at 9%, and the franc had plummeted. Mitterrand’s economic policy-massive government intervention and a strong pro-labor tilt but at the expense of private sector job creation-stayed the course. Mitterrand’s far-reaching agenda during his first years as president insured, even after he was long gone, that politicians still had their hands “tied by the… nature of the social programs introduced and expanded during the early 1980s.”

But one sector of the economy flourished-the public sector. The size of the bureaucracy exploded, with one jobholder out of every five a government worker. Under the weight of an exploding bureaucracy, France, like its cuisine, became rigid, inflexible, complacent.

Obama maintains that the previous stimulus bill ?saved or created? 2 million jobs, a totally overblown figure. The money was used mainly to keep the status quo of bloated public-sector union jobs in states such as California and New York. Consider that, today, 51% of unionized workers nationwide are government employees. Thirty years ago, there were only half as many unionized public-sector workers as there were unionized private-sector workers. Coupled with this, as the LA Times points out, is “Obama’s curiously close labor friendship,” especially with SEIU chief Andy Stern. And now we have $100 billion for the new ?jobs bill? (stimulus is no longer used, since it didn?t stimulate anything but the lowest ratings in U.S. history for a president?s first year). This $100 billion is financed by record deficits and $2 trillion in tax increases. Vive la France!

Michael Steinberger’s Au Revoir to All That is funny, entertaining and insightful. One might also call it a cautionary tale.

RichardCYoung.com » This Isn’t A Game

Obamacare Repeal in Action

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