Letter From My Congresswoman:

[Matt Mattson]

Letter from my Congresswoman:

Standing With My Constituents Against Obamacare

The Democrats have a 75-seat majority in the House of Representatives. They needed 50 percent of the votes plus one to pass legislation. Even with 75 extra votes, they could not find enough Democrats to pass their government takeover of healthcare.

Speaker Pelosi added sweetheart deals. She twisted arms and threatened Members. Finally, desperate to impose their socialist vision on America, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi decided tragically to resort to an unconstitutional slight of hand where they would "deem" the bill passed without voting on it. It was only the uproar of the American people that prevented it.

After all the arm twisting and backroom deals, Democrats secured just enough votes to pass the Senate's government takeover of healthcare late on Sunday night. I voted against this bill and I wonder, if this bill were truly so great, would these tactics have been necessary?

The simple answer is that this healthcare bill is not what the American people want. It is not what they signed up for. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike have stood shoulder-to-shoulder opposing this bill, but sadly, all of us are going to get it anyway.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that this bill cuts Medicare by half a trillion dollars, raises taxes, and dramatically expands Medicaid. It increases the cost of health insurance for all Americans, and then it mandates that you buy the coverage. It puts an unelected bureaucrat in control of your healthcare. And if you try to escape any of it, there are 16,500 new IRS enforcers created by this bill just to track you down.

Let me say clearly, I am not one who believes that our healthcare system is just fine the way it is. It's a good system - better than most - but it can and should be improved. There are broken programs and broken policies that must be fixed. But this bill does not do that. It completely ignores important issues like frivolous lawsuits and medical malpractice reform. It ignores the need for increased competition. In short, it does nothing to address the rising cost of healthcare.

So what do I support? I support a step-by-step approach to reform. I support healthcare reform that makes insurance more affordable for everyone. I support making sure that Americans cannot have their coverage dropped simply because they get sick. I support making sure that no American is denied coverage because he or she has a pre-existing condition. And I support eliminating fraud in Medicare so that seniors never have to worry if their coverage will be there.

I am not alone.

The Republican plan, available at www.gop.gov, would reduce the cost of health insurance for all Americans. Reports by CBO show that, when compared with the plan that just passed, the average family would have saved $5,000 under the Republican plan. And the Republican plan would have increased coverage without spending a trillion dollars.

Congress should be focusing on the healthcare plans it already runs; Medicare and Medicaid.

I fully support holding insurance companies accountable, but many of my Democrat colleagues have traded accountability for a belief that government-run healthcare won't need any. Did you know that Medicare already denies twice the percentage of claims as private health insurance?

"Medicare for all" was their rallying cry. But, now that they have gotten their way, more than 200 million Americans will see a greater number of their procedures denied and their healthcare delayed. As someone who suffers from asthma, that scares me. I have personally been denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition. I know how difficult that can be and that is why I support doing away with this loophole.

I also support the elimination of lifetime caps on what an insurance company will pay out if you become sick. If you pay for insurance coverage when you're healthy, it should cover you when you get sick, that's the bottom line.

Allowing individuals to purchase a healthcare plan regardless of the state they live in will increase the number of competitors in the market and will help drive down the cost of insurance. Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have argued that a "public option" is necessary to increase competition and choice. I argue that adding one "public option" pales in comparison to allowing thousands of already available health insurance plans to compete with each other.

The American people have been presented with a false choice: you either accept the Democrat plan or you get nothing. The only person offering you that choice is President Obama. From the beginning, my Republican colleagues and I have offered alternatives that would reduce the cost of healthcare for all Americans without raising taxes, or burying our grandchildren with trillions in added debt.

I voted against Speaker Pelosi's government takeover because the American people deserve a better healthcare system, but more important than that, they deserve a choice. That is what democracy is all about. That is why we need to repeal this bill and draw up a better one.


Thank you,
Ginny Browne-Waite

[golden optimist]

Not my congressman, he's from california, but I get his emails after I sent him a letter a couple of years ago.


The House just passed the Senate health care bill, sending it to the President for his signature. Over the past eight months, I have listened carefully to my constituents’ concerns in town hall meetings across California’s Third District, in tele-town hall forums, in reading your e-mails, and looking through e-newsletter surveys. On the basis of this input, the majority of my constituents want health care reform measures that provide and protect accessible, affordable, personalized, and quality care. However, they do not believe that the Senate bill will accomplish this. I agree with them, and therefore voted against the Senate bill.

The Senate bill is costly and ultimately unsustainable, creating a new $938 billion entitlement. Its drafters say it is “paid for” but have engaged in all manner of budget gimmicks that would make Bernard Madoff blush, such as including ten years of tax revenue to pay for only six years of benefits. The bill includes new taxes and penalties, special deals for certain states at the expense of other states, all the while doing nothing to decrease the cost of health insurance premiums. It does nothing to address the cost of health care delivery in this country.

The Senate bill virtually guarantees that many Americans will have to forfeit their existing coverage, contrary to the President’s promise that everyone who likes their current health care plan can keep it. Under the Senate proposal, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that as many as nine million people who are enrolled in employer-based plans now will have to find some other way to get health care coverage.

The Senate bill imposes a one-size-fits-all approach to health insurance. Congress will now dictate the types of insurance plans that can be purchased. Many popular health plans, including Health Savings Accounts that allow individuals to pay for health care services with pre-tax dollars, will be limited under the bill. The bill forces all Americans to purchase government mandated coverage, regardless of their individual needs and preferences.

The Senate bill inflicts heavy tax burdens on small businesses and families at a time when we need to do what we can to foster job growth today. And we need to ensure that changes we make to our health care system do not undermine the prospects for sustainable, long-term economic growth.

I have sought to work with my colleagues across the aisle to enact meaningful health care reform measures supported by the American public. When a bill to repeal the anti-trust immunity for the health insurance industry came before the House, we passed the legislation 406-19 in a strong showing of bipartisan support. It was my hope that the Majority would end its insistence on a purely partisan health care bill and pass meaningful health care reform proposals that would benefit Americans in the short and long term. However, the House Leadership made clear tonight that it wants to pursue an entirely partisan path. The only bipartisanship that came out of Congress tonight was reflected in the vote against the Senate bill.

After a long day, and an even longer fight, I remain committed to making your voice heard in the U.S. Capitol.

Sincerely,

Daniel E. Lungren
Member of Congress

[tommyknocker]

Here is how my arrogant "representative" responded to my letter of opposition to the health care-less bill...

Dear Mr. "Smith": 3/19/10

Thank you for writing to me about pending health care reform legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.
There is widespread agreement that we must reform our health insurance system, which is a huge financial burden on our families. The status quo is no longer sustainable. Thousands of Americans lose their insurance every day while thousands more are denied coverage. If we do nothing, 45 percent of an average family's income will go towards health insurance premiums in 2016. And without action, Medicare will be broke by 2017.
On February 25, 2010, President Obama held a summit on comprehensive health insurance reform. I was pleased to see members of both parties participate in this frank and forthright exchange of ideas.
I strongly believe that we must seize this opportunity to move forward on health care reform, and I hope that we can. I will continue to fight for health care reform for Californians and all Americans.
Again, thank you for writing to me. Please feel free to contact me again about this or other issues of concern to you.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

[russau]

most out of state people get the response that:your not in my district! but the socalled "representatives in my state are just about as bad! they elude the questions i ask them. 1state rep keeps saying to me:oh i forgot!

[golden optimist]

Thats why I'm kind of impressed about Lundgren. I'm out of state but he still sends me updates. If I was in California, I'd vote for him.
Leonard

[Matt Mattson]

Tea Party Chair on HC:

From the Vice Chairman of our Tea Party....in Gilmer County

The outrage, just today, is astounding. The outright lies being told and re-told are astonishing. Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about having sex with an intern. We have a "President" and leaders of the House & Senate lying through their teeth every day about the cost of their "Health Insurance" fix. And lying it is.

There is not an ounce of truth in any of their words. This fradulent misogonyistic freak parroting as "President" has spent millions of our tax-payer dollars flying around the country in a non-stop campaign-style frenzy, and lying his butt off every time he opens his mouth. Any fourth-grader could show that the math doesn't add up, and that the common sense is gone, dead and buried.

Any American that has paid the slightest amount of attention to the efficiency, and efficacy, of government-run programs, knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are always seriously mis-underestimated, highly inefficient and extremely expensive boodogles.

I am warning you all right now---2010 will be the year that we will see the most egregious election-fraud ever perpetrated, and this Republic will be brought to it's knees, as has been intended, unless we remain active and VIGILANT.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform (or Amnesty, as we all know,) has already been in the works. It will be forced through, probably by Executive Order, before August this year.

That's a minimum of 8 MILLION DEMOCRAT VOTES ADDED TO THE EQUATION.

Universal Voter Registration will also be implemented around the same time, if not before, adding millions of felons to the voter roles, and God only knows who else.

This is not a guess. Not hyperbole. THIS IS WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN SAYING IN PUBLIC. God only knows what they're plotting behind closed doors.

Make no mistake---we don't have leaders anymore---we have despots and tyrants tearing the fabric of this republic apart.

But---YOU MATTER. Many of you have fought for this country. Many of you dedicate your time, your treasure, to the down-trodden. In the years you've set aside, for leisure and relaxation after a full life of busting your butts to build a dream, a life, a legacy of freedom for your children & grandchildren, now you're suddenly racist, incendiary homophobes and worse.

I'm proud to know you! God Bless You All. We're taking the fight to them, folks.

Where logic and reason seem to fail, we'll be there to prop them back up. After all, there's not a damn thing wrong, with being right. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ---Jim Seigfreid

[nebraskadad]

I've got friggin' Ben Nelson that treasonous vermin who allowed it to pass the Senate. 2014 isn't soon enough for most Nebraskan's to oust him.

Our state is among the many filing suit against the unfunded mandates..