The president spoke from the Rose Garden this afternoon reiterating how important it is for the House to pass this landmark health-care-reform bill, HR3962. It is expected that the vote will take place tonight or tomorrow. It is clear that no Republican will support this proposed legislation.
If Speaker of the House Pelosi is able to muster the 218 votes needed for passage by the House and approval later this year or early next year, there is no question that the final outcome will be higher premiums for all Americans and more uninsured.
The president focused in his brief remarks on the support for the bill by many groups including the AMA and AARP. While the executives of these organizations have endorsed the bill, they do not represent the views of their membership. There is now a large and growing backlash against it by the members of these two groups–doctors and seniors.
The president and Democratic members of the House are pushing very hard for passage of a plan that will raise taxes for all Americans, increase the size of the deficit, result in rationed care and ultimately long waiting lists for treatment.
The president, Mrs. Pelosi, and the liberal Democratic members of the House do not have the support of the American people for the largest entitlement program being considered since Medicare and Medicaid were passed in 1965 under President Johnson. And, these two government programs, according to the CBO, will be bankrupt by 2017. Yet, the president is going against the wishes of the populace and supporting a costly program that will ensure that we are all enrolled in “Medicare for All.” We will have neither security nor stability in our health care.
– Sally C. Pipes is president and ceo of the Pacific Research Institute. She is the author of The Top Ten Myths of American Health Care.