John Campbell Opines on TeaBaggers and Pelosi Responds

Rep. John Campbell (R-Orly Taitz and BSS with Michelle Bachman R-Bat$#!+ crazy) sent this email out today; read it first and then Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s response busting myths on healthcare reform.

From John Campbell:

Factoid of the Day: The Pelosi government run health care plan creates a new 2.5% tax on all medical devices not sold through a retail establishment. That means a new 2.5% tax on everything from wheelchairs and hospital gowns, to artificial organs. And that lowers health care costs how?

Tea Party: Earlier today on Capitol Hill, we Republicans held a press conference on the west front of the Capitol to oppose the Pelosi Health Plan.  The “Tea Party” people seized on this as an opportunity to express the grass roots opposition to what the Wall Street Journal has called the worst bill since World War II. They started sending their e-mails just a few days ago.

And boy did they deliver.   I would estimate that there were 25,000 people in the crowd all chanting “kill the bill; kill the bill.” There are those on the left who would dismiss this movement as a bunch of kooks and fringe players. They do so at their peril.  I talked to corporate CEOs, Doctors, an investment banker with an MBA, and many other educated people of accomplishment. I would not they say they are angry, but rather, they are filled with resolve. No one paid them to be here, and it should be noted that this event was at 12:00 noon on a Thursday. They just do not want this country to follow the path of collectivism that Pelosi and Obama espouse.  They know it doesn’t work,  and I agree with them.

Another interesting thing to note, is that there is no office for the ‘Tea Party.’  In fact, there is no centralization at all. It is completely organic, spontaneous, and organized only through the Internet.  It is just individuals making an individual decision to fight for freedom without any central direction or control, which I might add, is exactly the opposite of how Obama and Pelosi think health care (and many other things) should work.  This movement really is emblematic of the power and dignity of the individual over the power and control of the collective.

And it is that individual choice and right that we are fighting for.  Here is a picture I took of the crowd from my vantage point on the steps of the Capitol.  If you would like to see more photos, log onto my facebook page by clicking here .  The crowd was stretched out over such a wide area that I could not even begin to capture it all without a fish-eye lens, which I don’t have. But hopefully you will get the flavor.

As of this moment, the Democratic leadership still does not have enough votes to pass the bill. Tomorrow, the President will travel to Capitol Hill to meet with Democrats and try to talk enough of them into voting for it. They have scheduled a vote for Saturday, after the President works it some more.

As I write you this from my office in the Longworth Building, I can hear thousands of people outside chanting “kill the bill; kill the bill.” I know that my Democratic colleagues can hear them too.  Let’s hope they listen.

Until tommorrow or Saturday, I remain respectfully,

Congressman John Campbell
Member of Congress 

……

We’re on Speaker Pelosi’s mail list and this came in today in response to the TeaBagger party in DC.

Health insurance reform opponents continue to spread myths – now about the recently introduced Affordable Health Care for America Act. Below is a response to many of the myths repeated today at the U.S. Capitol.

MYTH:  The Affordable Health Care for America Act will lead to a “government takeover” of the health care system.

FACT:  America’s Affordable Health Choices Act builds on the current private, employer-provided health care system – and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, will expand enrollment in private insurance by an estimated 6 million Americans.

Rather than creating a “government takeover of health care,” the bill is designed to help make the health insurance market work better – improving competition and choice for consumers through the creation of a one-stop shopping marketplace called a Health Insurance Exchange. 

In the Exchange, a public health insurance option would compete with private plans to put downward pressure on premiums and increase quality of coverage.  The competition is needed–many areas of our country are dominated by just one or two private insurers today.  The public option will operate on a level playing field.  It will be subject to the same market reforms and consumer protections as other private plans in the Exchange and it will be self-sustaining – financed only by its premiums.

While some critics claim that Americans will be “forced into” a new public health insurance option, the fact is that no one can be forced into the public plan.  All those choosing plans in the Health Exchange will have a range of options – various private plans and the public plan.  If an employer is providing their employees’ health insurance through the Exchange, it is the employee – not the employer – choosing the plan.  The only way someone would be in the public plan is as a result of their own individual choice. 

Finally, many of the same voices spreading this myth most loudly are also defending from ‘government takeover’ America’s largest government-run health care program: Medicare. 

Even former Republican Senate Majority Leader and heart surgeon Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) disputes the claim:

 “…what the Obama Administration is doing is not socialized medicine. You hear a lot of people on the extreme say that socialized medicine is going to come in and control everything. Socialized medicine is where the government owns the hospitals. They own the doctors and they decide how much people are getting paid. And that’s not what’s in these bills.” [CSPAN Washington Journal, 10/15/09]
MYTH:  The House bill would increase the federal deficit. 

 FACT:  Health insurance reform will not add to the deficit. According to the CBO, the House bill will reduce the deficit by $104 billion over the first ten years (2010-2019).  Furthermore, the legislation will continue to reduce the deficit over the second ten year period (2020-2029).  In fact, the House Republican substitute bill does almost nothing to expand coverage of the uninsured –which costs us all—but only reduces the deficit by $68 billion over the same period.

MYTH:  “Health insurance reform could be unconstitutional…or violate the 10th amendment.” 

FACT: As with Medicare and Medicaid, the federal government has the Constitutional power to reform our health care system.

The 10th amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that the powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states … or to the people.  But the Constitution gives Congress broad power to regulate activities that have an effect on interstate commerce.  Congress has used this authority to regulate many aspects, from labor relations to education to health care to agricultural production. Since virtually every aspect of the heath care system has an effect on interstate commerce, the power of Congress to regulate health care is essentially unlimited.

The 10th amendment does not authorize states to constrict Congress’ power under the commerce clause.   As the Supreme Court has held, Congress can for example bar racial discrimination in Ollie’s Barbeque in Alabama (Katzenbach v. McClung), even in the face of state laws permitting such behavior.
 
The 10th amendment does place one significant limit on Congress and the federal government: Congress cannot “commandeer” state officials to administer programs.  It must get the consent of state officials who are asked, e.g., to run health programs for the poor or to help build highways.   Typically, Congress obtains that consent by providing financial support to the states.   A state is free to refuse the support and refuse to assist the federal government in administering the program, but Congress can authorize the federal government to administer the program on its own.   Thus, Congress cannot force a state to administer a health insurance exchange, but it can authorize the federal government to administer such an exchange in any state that declines to do so. 

MYTH:  The legislation does not require Members of Congress to enroll in the public option.

FACT:  It is true that the bill does not require Members of Congress to enroll in the public health insurance option. However, the bill does not require ANYONE to enroll in the public health insurance option. Providing affordable CHOICES to Americans is the whole point of reform. Under the bill, all those using the Health Insurance Exchange will have the choice of several private insurance plans, along with the public option. The only way anyone enters the public option is by their own individual choice. The bill simply includes a provision that provides Members of Congress the option of choosing the public health insurance plan, or keeping their private insurance group plan that is fully subject to all the reforms in the bill.

For more health insurance reform myth busting, please click here.

For more information on America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, please click here.