Take from the rich, give to the poor, raise taxes for the middle class and small business owners and reduce healthcare benefits for seniors. Welcome to a more healthy 2010. The health reform bill that will pass both houses will not only increase the national deficit, but will add more government control to what used to be the land of free enterprise and choice.
   Why should the rich (who make up about 10 percent of the population and already pay 50 percent of the taxes) have to pay more, why should senior Medicare benefits be reduced and prescription assist programs be eliminated, why should small businesses be penalized if they don’t provide insurance, and why should we be taxed more to pay for it? Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the insurance industry “lacks a moral compass.” This may be true, but do we want government controlling private industry’s profit margins? This would be detrimental to job creation as well as job preservation.
   House Minority Leader John Boehner said it the best about the health care bill: “Increases premiums for the families and small businesses, raises taxes during a recession, cuts seniors’ Medicare benefits, adds to our skyrocketing debt and puts bureaucrats in charge of decisions that should be made by patients and doctors.” And what’s worse is the deal making that was done to secure votes by guaranteeing certain states funds for a variety of projects that we get to pay for whether we benefit or not.
   After the two houses negotiate, the bill will be signed into law by President Obama and change will come, but at what cost? There’s no question that our healthcare system needs reform, but let’s start with the systems in place and clean them up along with more preventive care incentives/dollars before we add more layers onto the mess we already have.

Jeff Mitchell