So, he expects to fail in his attempt to repeal the entire bill, but then he will try to gut it. If he is successful in either attempt, here is what will happen to you:

–Your children may be denied health insurance because they have a pre-existing condition.
–Your insurance company might put a ceiling on the claims you can submit, during your lifetime.
–You can be charged extra for an emergency room visit to a hospital not in your insurance company’s network.
–You will lose coverage of your children through age 26.
–Your coverage can be cancelled if you get sick.
–When you are a senior, you will not receive free screening for cancer, the biggest killer of Amercians.
–Millions of Americans will lose insurance coverage.

And other bad stuff too numerous to mention.

So why do the Republicans want to do this to the American public? Four reasons:

1. Through time, this bill will gain in popularity, and become known as a signature Democratic initiative, on a par with Social Security, Medicare and the civil rights bills. Since most recent Republican initiatives have been to go to war with Iraq based on a lie, deport undocumented aliens and the Bush tax cuts, the Republicans are desperate either to come up with something great or to destroy whatever the Democrats do. They need an issue, and this is all they can think of (Heaven forbid they come up with something beneficial to the lives, health and finances of the general public.)

2. The stated belief the “individual mandate” is onerous or illegal, in that you can’t penalize people for not buying something. Really? Try driving in my state, Illinois, without buying significant amounts of liability insurance. Try buying anything without paying the retailer sales tax. (And unless you think this is just a tax, it isn’t. The retailer actually makes a profit on it, because he pays against total sales, while he receives a rounded up amount from each sale.) True, the self-styled “originalists” on the Supreme Court may rule against it, because it does not meet their right wing agenda, but this will just open the door to a single payer option, which the right wing will hate even more.

3. Pandering to the Tea Party. Unfortunately for the Republicans, the bloom is going off the Tea Party rose, and soon Sarah Palin and the rest of the gang will be remembered laughingly in the same terms as the infamous “Know Nothing” party, which the Tea Party closely resembles. See: Know Nothing party

4. The bill is “too costly” or “unsustainable” or will force tax increases on taxpayers. Those who have read the posts on this blog have learned that taxpayers do not pay for spending by a Monetarily Sovereign government, taxes will not need to be increased, there is nothing that is unsustainable for the federal government, and all the talk about affordability is utter nonsense. If you have not read the posts, you can begin with: Introduction and work your way forward.

Although I have spend most of my life voting Republican (because I didn’t like the “tax” part of the Democrats’ tax ‘n’ spend policies), I find myself drifting leftward, partly because of the mean-spirited, hate filled, ultra-political beast the Republican party has become. So it will be entertaining to watch the Republicans try to destroy one of the great human initiatives in American history. Yes, the health care bill is not perfect. I’ll repeat that: The health care bill is not perfect. But it’s an excellent start toward doing what any great nation must do – protect its citizens – whether against foreign invaders, poverty, illiteracy or sickness. It’s the reason we have a government.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
http://www.rodgermitchell.com

No nation can tax itself into prosperity. Those who say the stimulus “didn’t work” remind me of the guy whose house is on fire. A neighbor runs with a garden hose and starts spraying, but the fire continues. The neighbor wants to call the fire department, which would bring the big hoses, but the guy says, “Don’t call. As you can see, water doesn’t put out fires.”