Health Care

There are many sides to the health insurance issue. Let's look at the statistics that have been presented so far:

• The population of the United States is over 300 Million.
• There are between 28 Million and 52 Million people who, by choice or circumstance, do not have health insurance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the number is 45 Million.
  
• There are an estimated 10 Million aliens without health coverage.
• Of those, MIT estimates 6 Million of are undocumented and would not be covered under any of the proposed systems.
• Of the 39 Million lawful residents, 43% or nearly 17 Million people can afford coverage but choose not to buy it.
• The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of reform would top 1 Trillion Dollars over the next decade, while reducing the number of uninsured by 15 Million.
  
• The population of the United States is divided on what path should be taken in reforming health insurance or health care.

Based on the statistics that have been agreed on by both sides of the debate, why is the debate still going on? The coverage is not universal, it is expensive and it will make it more difficult for private companies to compete. There is a quote from an interview in The Post-Journal of Jamestown, NY; Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, that one of the problems with the current health insurance landscape is the lack of competition.

Perhaps the most glaring example of that lack of competition is the Rochester market, where two insurance companies control 94 percent of the market. Not far behind is Ithaca, where the top two insurance companies control 91 percent of the market. In the Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Tonawanda market, the top two insurers control 87 percent of the market.

''We have to introduce more competition,'' Schumer said. ''The lack of competition is what drives up premiums. Introducing further competition into the market will push those prices down for those who are already insured and put health insurance within reach for those who cannot afford it now. Our current system, dominated by private insurance companies, simply has not done the job.''-The Post-Journal Aug. 2, 2009

Perhaps Senator Schumer should have checked with the New York State Insurance Department. He would have uncovered the inconvenient fact is that there are 48 companies or HMO's licensed to sell insurance in the state of New York. How much more competition does Sen. Schumer desire. Or is it that he only wants the not-for-profit government insurance company to be the new competitor?

Why should a government based health care system be a cause for concern? 2 major reasons are that it creates a huge potential for displacing tens of thousands of workers in that field. The second reason is a recent development from Cuba, the nation with the "best health care in the world".

The president of Cuba, Raul Castro announced Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a floundering economy.

The former defense minister who took over the presidency last year called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.-AP Aug 1, 2009

That is the most frightening aspect of the whole debate. That your health care could be jeopardized in order to balance the budget. As I have stated in previous posts, our spending is already unsustainable and the government isn't paying for health care yet.

The fact that our legislators are playing us is the reason they need to go. Chuck Schumer is up for re-election in 2010. To the fine citizens of New York I ask you to begin looking for a replacement for him, Senator Gillibrand and the 29 members of the House of Representatives .

What has happened to our federal government?

In the election of 2008 we were promised a change from politics as usual. What we have received is a hyper-progressive group that is determined to bankrupt our country. That in itself is a bad step to take. When you add that it is coupled with more of the same over-spending, micro-managing government we have been experiencing for the past 2 decades then it's time to tell the legislators that we have had enough. This is the call to all Americans to vote out our legislators. All of our lawmakers. I mean mine, yours, your friends and families. Not one of them can be forgiven for taking us down the path of ruin we are headed. WE have a lot of work to undo the damage of the last 20 years and we cannot trust any of the current office holders to do the right thing. Let my blog be the catalyst for action as we reclaim our country.

It is time to tell our federal government that what they consider progress made over the past 20 years is not an acceptable path in preserving our rights, freedoms and the American way of life. Our legislators have mortgaged our future for the get rich quick schemes they accuse the wealthy of taking advantage of. In fact the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Government's auditor, argues that the U.S. is on a fiscally "unsustainable" path and that politicians and the electorate have been unwilling to change this path. According to the Presidents own budget, the federal debt will exceed 90% of the GDP for the first time since the aftermath of WWII and will rise to the point that it will exceed 100% of the GDP in 2011 and 2012. The GDP is the market value of all final goods and services made within the borders of a nation in a year. What that means is that in 2011 and 2012 the federal government will borrow more money than the ENTIRE COUNTRY PRODUCES in each of those years. How in the world do they expect to pay for that gluttony? They have taken us from the largest lender nation to the largest debtor nation in less than 20 years. It is time to replace them. Every one of them, BEFORE THEY WRITE A CHECK THAT WE CANNOT EVER REPAY. We have an opportunity to remake the government that represents the majority. The major parties have, for decades, pandered to the extremes of their political spectrum and those extremes are growing further from the center and further from us. When the parties pander to the extreme 15% of the population that makes up the most vocal half of their party, that leaves 70% of the nation without real representation. We, the 70% the parties have forgotten about, will take back our country and institute an old friend, Common Sense!

The Mission Begins

Welcome to the start of a movement. For decades the major political parties have treated us like serfs and paupers in their feudal domains. They dole out programs and projects to keep us distracted and comfortable while they plan and execute their agenda of eroding our rights and leading down a path of government control. Our Founding Fathers had a great vision for The United States of America that our leaders have forgotten. That we have self evident rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness that have been endowed by our creator.

Where we are as a country is that our legislators have sold us out. They, who were supposed to protect us, have built a nation that has become dependent on the handout and generosity of the government. The biggest problem with that is they are writing us checks out of our own account and not worrying about the balance. According to the Federal budget, posted on the White House web site www.whitehouse.gov our government has decided that, for the next decade, we will experience an average increase in the income tax received of 9.12% and corporate taxes of 15.23%. That should help us pay for programs that congress want to protect us with. But wait, just like other government programs, this one has a problem. The amount our government is spending is going up even faster. This spending will produce a deficit in the coming decade of $7,168,000,000,000. That's over 7 TRILLION DOLLARS. Just how are we supposed to pay that back. We shouldn't need to and we don't. The solution is as easy as it is difficult. I know that, if we follow the plan, we can take back control of our country and put us back on the path to prosperity and freedom. Please don't make the mistake of thinking that this will be solved in 2 or 4 or even 10 years. The damage to our economy and our government is to great to fix that quickly.

Step one is to replace our legislators. All of them. The (D)'s, The (R)'s and all the rest have got to go. We can replace the entire House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Senate in 2010. But it will take conviction, fortitude and courage to make this happen. None of them are sacred. Not mine, not yours, not the one you have heard of on TV or the radio. All of them. They will squeal and yell and, perhaps, even curse. YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!! But given the nature of our country and budget right now, they don't know either. Start looking in your area for someone that hold your convictions, that you can rally around to take the place of your current representative. We don't have time to waste as the elections will take place in a mere 15 months. Mobilize now!