Herman
Cain
Read Herman's bio and previous columns
August 31, 2009
Shhhh! There’s a Republican Alternative to
Democrat-Care; Don’t Let Anyone Know!
The
Republican alternative to Democrat-care, which liberals don’t want you
to know about, has been hijacked. They don’t want people to know about
it because the
Astroturf, un-American crazies
might like it.
The
“Empowering Patients First Act” (H.R
3400) was introduced by Representative Tom Price (R-GA) and
27 co-sponsors on July 30, 2009 prior to the congressional recess. It
was then referred to eight House committees.
The head
hijacker is Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As Congressman Price pointed out
during a radio interview with me last week, the rules in the House
assert that bills will remain in committees “for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker.” Thank you Nancy!
The highly
contentious 1,000-plus-page Democratic health care proposal cleared the
committees in a few days. The 63-page Republican alternative is stuck in
committees and it can’t get out. Speaker Pelosi can simply keep it there
while they continue to try to shove their proposal down the throats of
the American people.
The
mainstream media has aided and abetted the hijacking of the Republican
alternative. In addition to not reporting on the alternative, they have
helped to keep public attention away from the
hidden provisions of the
Democrats’ health care Trojan horse. They have also helped to keep
attention on “how do we pay for it” and “what do we call it” as they
proclaim it must pass.
The
president and his administration, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the
liberals in Congress are trying to sell the public on
Democrat-care, rather than listen to what a majority of we the people
are saying. The Democrats are organizing hundreds of
rallies across the country to
counter the thunderous disagreement that they have encountered
against Democrat-care during their August recess, and they label all
criticism as smears and lies.
The Obama
Administration is even actively
recruiting college students to
join its “National Organizing Internship” program and earn college
credits for helping to promote the president’s agenda of change.
Hopefully, many of these college students will start asking the right
questions about his agenda and the “change” he wants.
Some of us
have already found answers to those questions, and we don’t like them.
Although it
has taken a lot of people and organizations many laborious days and
weeks to uncover what’s in the Democrats’
H.R. 3200, I was able to distill
the key components of the Republicans’ H.R. 3400 in a few hours. I felt
as if I were back in college solving a complex math problem (I was a
math major). Here’s what the Democrats don’t want us to know.
The
Empowering Patients First Act (H.R. 3400) would allow:
-
Individuals
to choose their health insurance (no mandates)
-
Deductibility of health insurance premiums regardless of who pays
-
Employers
to provide flexible health insurance options to employees
-
Health
insurance coverage for low-income families (300 percent of the
federal poverty level)
-
Health
insurance for high-risk individuals (pre-existing conditions)
-
Sale of
health insurance across state lines
-
Expansion
of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
-
Individual
membership association health insurance plan
-
Association Health Insurance Plans
-
Medical liability limitations (Tort reform)
Unlike
Democrat-care, the Republican alternative would not
impose fines on workers or employers, require cuts in Medicare,
increase taxes, require a new government bureaucracy, require a
“government health insurance” option nor add $1 trillion or more
to the national debt.
The
Republican alternative is simply less government, fewer taxes and more
choices, whereas Democrat-care is just another attempt to hijack more of
our liberties.
But hush
y’all. The Democrats don’t want you to know that.
© 2009 North Star
Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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