Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Response to My Response to Congresswoman Harman's Resignation

I appreciate that someone has taken the time to respond to my views regarding Congresswoman Jane Harman's resignation and legacy. I wanted to respond to some of the comments that he made.

United States Congressmen must be invested in the best interests of the entire United States, not just the parochial interests of congressional districts and states. The long-term success and stability of Israel is crucial to the well-being of this country, for the Jewish state is one of the most sophisticated and equipped nations to thwart terrorism.
It is fitting for the United States to support Israel, a land dedicated to Western values and anti-terrorist reconnaissance in the midst of tyrannical, authoritarian, and failed states

The writer comments that President Obama received overwhelming support for himself and for his agenda. However, in a virulently anti-incumbent 2008, President Obama only received 53% of the popular vote. He won as the also-ran to a badly wounded Republican Party. In recently months, his poll numbers have slipped, and there is growing opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) as we speak.

Throughout the one hundred plus speeches to endorse the bill, President Obama changed the number of uninsured who would be covered by the bill at least three times, from 20 million, to 30 million, to 40 million (?). Citizens in townhall meetings across the country voiced their outrage to the bill. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's quip, “We have to pass the bill so that you know what’s in it” also demonstrates the hurried callousness of the United States government to the needs of the American people.

Obama did not approach this health care legislation in a bipartisan fashion. It passed the House and Senate without any Republican support, and even in spite of some Democratic opposition. Some moderate Democrats are back-peddling from their previous support. Recently, two Federal Judges (one presiding over a case in with amicus curies briefs from twenty states) have both declared the law unconstitutional. There is little evidence that this bill enjoys wide support among any significant segment of the population.

The writer also requested evidence of the negative consequences of this health care law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts deprives Medicare of 500 billion dollars, defunding one unsustainable entitlement to finance another. Small businesses are not creating jobs in part because the health care law creates burdensome uncertain for their fiscal obligations to their employees and to the state.

Worse yet, consider the fate of the socialized medicine in Canada and other nations, where the average wait time to see a physician can take months. The Quebec Supreme Court has ruled that it is inhumane to force patients to wait indefinitely for "free" health care and prevent them from purchasing their own insurance. Medical professionals have fled Canada to the United States, where the pay is higher, the taxes are lower, and technological innovation is more affordable. In Great Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron and his ruling coalition are taking the painful but long-overdue steps of privatizing the National Health Service (NHS). First of all, the unforeseen costs of government-run health care have become more than the British Government can afford. Secondly, the British wants patients and medical professionals, not bureaucrats, to make life-and-death decisions regarding health care.

These and other gross deficiencies should discourage the United States from sanctioning any government intervention into our health care system, including Obamacare.

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