Letter to Senator Mark Warner

I just received a letter from Senator Mark Warner. This is a reply.

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Thank you for your email.

Thank you for letting me know that you strongly support additional bailouts for favored businesses.

I realize that the small business package includes some things that will be positive, like allowing those who choose to invest in capital to write off the balance more quickly. However, allowing the current tax rates to expire on most of these businesses (taxes on the "rich" who own these businesses and file personal returns that reflect the business income) will cost far more than this plan could ever save.

Moreover, the majority of the cost (which will have to be paid for, despite the claim that it doesn't cost anything) is for direct bailouts (loans) for favored businesses. The loan industry has no shortage of funds available. The $1.5b is minor compared to the $300b already available. This money will go to companies, like those you indicated, which are politically favored, and some of whom do not have a sound business model which would be required to otherwise get loans. And which will be required to actually succeed and to pay back the loans.

In addition, while the deductions on capital investment may reduce the short-term cost of business growth, the new healthcare regulations will greatly increase the cost of employees. In other words, recent regulations still create an environment that is strongly negative for jobs growth.

It is laws like these that have overseen the increase in unemployment from 7.2% under Bush to over 10% under Obama. These laws with more regulation and higher taxes have made things so bad that some experts do not expect unemployment to ever return to the low rates that President Obama inherited.

(Originally posted at http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=NewsletterReply)

Healthcare Bill: Now law, but fraudulent

There were lots of pleas for compassion going into the healthcare debates.

Every scenario has anecdotal evidence, that is, specific examples that seem to prove whatever the speaker wants to prove. Any businessperson knows that no decisions should ever be made solely on anecdotal evidence. Yes, there are people that have had huge bills due to lack of health insurance.

But did you know that most of the examples we've been given have not been accurate? Some of them have been made up, and others were blown way out of context?

Examples:

The President said that people who want to get insurance on their own pay three times of that through an employer. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that's not so.

The President told the story of a man who had cancer, lost his insurance, couldn't get chemotherapy, and died. Not true -- the newspaper author of the story retracted it, but the President continued to tell the story after the retraction.

Lots of people say that people can't get medical care if they don't have insurance. They can get whatever care they need -- the law doesn't allow care providers to refuse care based on ability to pay. True, the person may get billed huge amounts (which they may never pay off, and which cannot legally be passed to inheritors), but they do get the care. Chemotherapy, heart transplants, whatever.

And just before the Congressional vote, the President introduced a small boy whose mother died of cancer after she couldn't get treatment without insurance.

Two problems with that. First, the mother was a member of a group dedicated to getting people to meet the needs of others by sharing from their own resources (a system some refer to, more-or-less accurately, as "communist"). But they wouldn't even meet the needs of one of their own members. You see, they wanted the government to meet the need, and not themselves personally, despite what they say.

But the government? That directly brings up the second point. She QUALIFIED FOR MEDICAID! But MediCaid didn't help her. She qualified for government healthcare assistance, but still didn't get it.

Yes, it's a tragic story. But the government-provided healthcare was already available, and this government-provided healthcare failed her.

And they want this already-failed system to be enforced on everyone else?!?!

Healthcare: They'll "Do Whatever It Takes"

Well, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi have exposed a little more about themselves.

They have both said that they'll do "whatever it takes" to pass comprehensive government-regulated healthcare.

The problem is what it is "taking: things that are unconstitutional, and things that used to be considered illegal.

Things that are unconstitutional, like:

Requiring everyone to purchase something just for being a citizen.

Everyone makes the comparison with car insurance, but that's not accurate. For one, the law (which is state law, by the way, not federal) does not require comprehensive insurance; only other people are protected, not the owner. On the side of health care, other people were already protected from an individual's actions -- under criminal and tort law.

Secondly, auto insurance does not include wear-and-tear on the vehicle. That's the range of warranties and "extended warranties", and no state requires a car owner purchase or maintain an extended warranty on his or her car.

And things that are illegal, like:

Giving Congressmen Federal jobs if they promise to vote the "right" way. One Congressman has been promised the ambassadorship to NATO. One has been promised the administration of of NASA (they have an "administrator" rather than a "director").

These aren't "iffy" things like pork benefits to the Congressman's district that indirectly benefit the Congressman him/herself -- these are things that reasonably have cash value, since a job, even a cushy, appointed job, involves a salary. In fact, the cushy ones tend to have more monetary value than the others, since they also tend to have perks. NATO is based in Belgium -- a nice spot for a vacation home, from what I understand. And a vacation home paid for by other people that is, us, the tax-payers) is so-much-the-better.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised to "kick through the door" to pass this regulation. The problem is that it's the door to someone else's house. And she knows it. And she doesn't care -- she wants in. And she wants everything you've got, so she can give it all away to her friends.

Get ready -- she's kicking on your door, and she's got a freight truck with her.

Promised Transparency? Clear as Concrete...

President Obama promised that all healthcare discussions would be televised live on C-SPAN.

The Congress did not do that, but the President could not control whether or not they would comply with his own promise.

This week, President Obama had healthcare meetings at the White House. This was his opportunity to fulfill his promise. Did he? Were all discussions carried on C-SPAN?

Not only were the meetings NOT televised, but no reporters -- at all -- were even allowed in the room.

But we know one thing that came out of the meeting. The unions were promised that they will be exempted from the taxes on "high-value" health insurance that everyone else will have to pay.

Letter to my Congressman and Senators: If the health care bill has any favors, please vote against it.

Letter to my Congressman and Senators:
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If the health care bill has any favors, please vote against it.

The previous version had favors for Louisiana and Nebraska for the federal government to pay the state portions of Medicare and Medicaid.

President Obama has negotiated favors for the unions, opting them out of taxes that apply to everyone else.

If the health care bill has any favors, please vote against it.

We keep finding more problems in the Healthcare Bill

Another letter to my Senators, before tomorrow's vote on the massive 2074-page bill:

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Healthcare in the United States has some problems. The current healthcare bill seeks to address a couple of those problems, such as lifetime caps on benefits, preexisting conditions, and higher premiums or lack of insurability due to preexisting conditions.

However, the more significant issues are not addressed in the bill.

• Frivolous lawsuits and excessive damages are the greatest cost in healthcare today, but tort reform is not addressed in this bill.

• Many people have problems with their insurance denying coverage due to the cost of procedures or perceived necessity of procedures. This bill does not resolve these issues; rather, it adds another layer of bureaucracy – or several – which can deny claims.

• Some are concerned by waiting times for critical procedures. But many expects expect these problems not only not to be improved, but to in fact multiply. Most countries with highly-regulated or federally-provided healthcare have extensive waiting periods for even minor procedures, and some procedures have waiting periods of years, where US citizens can currently get most procedures within days or weeks.

• Insurance premiums are a tremendous concern to many. But the additional regulation and taxes in the bill will certainly increase the cost of both healthcare and insurance. Some experts say that insurance premiums will double within the next year or two.

More troubling, however, for every day that passes, we keep finding more problems in the current healthcare bill.

• We knew that a panel would be established with the power to unquestionably and unappealably decide what does or does not qualify and who does or does not get coverage under Medicare. Some have euphemistically referred to this as a "death panel."

o We now know that this panel will be composed of five individuals appointed by the President, without accountability, without oversight, and without any Senate ability to repeal the panel in the future.

• We knew that the bill has MANY bribes, payoffs, coercions, and other incentives for Senators who were previously hesitant concerning or opposed to the bill. This includes $300 million from the US taxpayers for Louisiana's state healthcare, for which the state, from its own taxpayers, was otherwise expected to pay itself.

o We now know that the US taxpayers will be responsible for every penny of Medicare costs for Nebraska for the rest of time.

• We knew that all US citizens will be required – and unconstitutionally so – to obtain and maintain health insurance, the first time that citizens have ever been required to purchase a service simply for the privilege of living. We also know that only Federally-approved plans will be acceptable.

o But we do not know what criteria will be placed on the acceptable insurance place. Despite the length of over two-thousand pages of the bill, criteria for acceptable insurance programs are not specified in it. These all-important criteria will be specified later.

• In addition, we also now know that abortion will be funded by taxpayer dollars. We have determined that healthcare providers who have conscientious objections to providing abortion will be required to participate anyway or else suffer punitive action.

• We also know that the current bill will institute taxes and fees immediately, but will not start any benefits for another four years. We will be paying for five years of benefits over nine years of taxes and fees. This is not sustainable and results in unrealistic projections.

We also know that you voted for cloture, to end debate and to proceed toward a vote. (In the version sent to Senator Webb:) We know that despite your opposition expressed in your emails to many aspects of the bill, you have effectively voted for it.

The majority of Americans, and the majority of Virginians, do not want this bill. The majority of your constituents do not want this bill. Please work in the interest of your constituents and work against this bill.

Short addendum to my Senators

A vote to end debate is equivalent to a vote to support the bill.

New letter to my Senators

Please only vote for the healthcare bill -- or any other bill, for that matter -- if these three aspects are true:

1 - You have read the entire bill personally and clearly understand all aspects of the bill,

2 - The bill complies with President Obama's pledge that it will contain no pork or earmarks,

3 - You can clearly explain how the bill falls under the responsibilities assigned to the Federal Government by the Constitution.

If all three of these are not true, please vote and work against the bill as it is not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States.


I vote, and I actively support, both online and in person, those who work for the best interest of our country.

Another letter to my Senators

Please work against this monstrosity bill that purports to "reform" healthcare. The current bill is 1.1 TRILLION dollars (and growing) of pork and regulation that will not reform. As massive as the regulation is, it does not even address the real problems, including frivolous lawsuits (needing tort reform) and lack of real insurance competition (needing interstate competition). This is a grab for power, not an attempt to solve anything. Please do all you can to eliminate this bill that will otherwise destroy our already-shaky economy.

Another Letter to Senators: Please REJECT any version of the current healthcare bill

I just sent this email to both of my Senators.
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Subject: Please REJECT any version of the current healthcare bill

We do not want the current healthcare bill in any form or regardless of any amendments.

We do not want government-run healthcare, whether it be through a "public option", a single-payer system, or "co-ops".

We do not want government-funded abortion.

We do not want rationing of care.

We do not want any government official or committee, appointed, elected, directed, or otherwise empowered, to determine what care may or may not be appropriate over the decision of our doctors.

We do not want reduced care for seniors.

We do not want reduced choice, either of care options, care providers, or insurance providers.

We do not want increased taxes, whether they be direct, on healthcare providers, or though employers.

We do not want increased insurance premiums.

We do not want to be forced to buy insurance.

We do not want increased bureaucracy.

We do not want hesitant officials to be bought off with personal or local benefits.

We do not want personal agendas to be furthered through legislation.

This 2000-page bill is full of pork, unnecessary regulation, taxes and fees, and onerous requirements. And who knows what else is hidden in a bill that no one in the Senate has actually read fully.

Please reject this healthcare bill, regardless of any amendments or minor modifications it may have.

Forwarded email: "Maxine on Health Care!"

I don't normally pass on forwarded emails, but this one is both funny and true.

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Maxine on Health Care!


Let me get this straight.

...we're going to pass a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,

passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it,

to be signed by a president that also hasn't read it and who smokes,

with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,

all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese,

and financed by a country that's nearly broke.

What could possibly go wrong?

Letter to my Senators: "Please REJECT the current healthcare bill."

I just sent this letter to my Senators, Jim Webb and Mark Warner.

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Please REJECT the current healthcare bill.

The current healthcare "reform" bill does NOTHING to reform malpractice suits, frivolous or otherwise, which are the major cause of increasing healthcare costs.

The bill requires, for the first time in US history and with neither legal nor Constitutional precedent, that all citizens purchase a product or service for simply living, and provides steep penalties for those who choose not to have the service.

The bill includes heavy taxes on the healthcare industry, which will further increase costs as these taxes are passed on to the customers.

The bill requires government-sponsored insurance "options", which inherently and unfairly compete against existing insurance companies, since the government plans have no need to operate at a profit, to break even financially, or to provide good customer service once the existing insurance has been run out of business.

The bill does not provide for private competition, as existing prohibitions against purchasing services from companies in other states are still in effect.

The bill continues biases against personal insurance coverage by not allowing tax deductibility unless the insurance is provided through an employer.

The bill includes government bureaucratic oversight, contrary to promises that "no government bureaucrat will come between you and your doctor."

As an example:

A "task force" has already been established that now "recommends" women who were previously recommended to get mammograms every year after age 40 now only get them every other year and then only after age 50. Just to be clear, the data has not changed, only the recommendations.

Right now, the United States has the best cancer survivorship in the world. If this healthcare plan is instituted, many thousands of women will die who would before have survived, and thousands of women who would have had a simple treatment and rapid recovery will now have to endure long, complex, painful (and expensive) treatments, because their cancer was not caught early.

In summary, this plan causes more problems without solving the existing ones.

Please both vote and speak against this horrendous plan.

Cancer, Rationing, Broken Promises

President Obama said that "no government bureaucrat will come between you and your doctor."

Really?

The healthcare community has long recommended that women over 40 get mammograms every year. But now, as Congress and Senate try to pass a government takeover of healthcare, a government "task force" has just recommended that be changed. Just to be clear, the data has not changed, only the recommendations.

They now say that only women over 50 should get mammograms, and then only every other year.

Right now, the United States has the best cancer survivorship in the world. If the government enforces this "recommendation" as part of its new healthcare plan, many women will die who would before have survived, and many women who would have had a simple treatment and recovery will now have to endure long, complex, painful (and expensive) treatments, because their cancer was not caught early.

Well, that last part, "expensive," may not come. European countries with government-controlled healthcare don't allow expensive treatments for people over 60. That means that those who are over 60 and get cancer don't get treatment - they get management. Pain therapy. Don't treat the problem; manage the symptoms.

Guess what? It's not (for the most part) the Republicans who are telling people to "die quickly". It's those who are pushing for this government takeover of what is right now the best healthcare system in the world.

It's not perfect, and it can use some tweaks (mostly protection from already overbearing government, like allowing frivolous lawsuits and outrageous penalties), but it's the best anyone has.

States can opt out of Federal health care? Really?

Sorry. After six years, states have to participate, whether they want to or not. If they don't join, they lose the healthcare subsidies that they have had for years, including Medicare matching funds.

New letter to Congressman Rick Boucher

Subject: DO NOT APPROVE THE CURRENT HEALTHCARE BILL!

An amendment (the Ellsworth-DeLauro amendment) has been added to the healthcare bill that supposedly removes taxpayer funding of elective abortion.

It does not.

Analysis by National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson (http://www.lifenews.com/nat5607.html) reveals that the amendment is complex subterfuge, and that all cases of elective abortion will still be permitted - and funded - by other provisions of the bill.

As you are no doubt aware, Creigh Deeds' candidacy for governor was rejected locally 71.85% to 27.25%. If you support this bill, which local voters such as myself are adamantly against, the same may happen to you next year.

Healthcare Bill: Adding 800 MORE pages the day before the vote?

The current draft of the Congressional healthcare bill is 1990 pages long. Some experts say that it will take a week just to read it, not to mention deciphering it and looking up all the other laws to which it refers.

But wait - there's more!

Nancy Pelosi is working on an 800 PAGE amendment. No telling how much pork and government control is in there.

But that's not all!

She wants a vote on the bill on Friday!

The bill already cuts $500 BILLION from Medicare. Democrats regularly accuse Republicans of wanting to reduce care for seniors. Democrats say that Republicans are against seniors, and that is proven by their opposition to this bill. But this bill will actually do just that.

The bill outlaws any new private health insurance after 2013. We can choose our own insurance? Not with this bill.

The bill pays for elective abortions. Most Americans, even those who think abortion is fine, don't want it paid for by taxes. But this bill will allow mothers to kill their babies and have other people pay for it.

The Congressional Budget Office says that this bill - not including the extra 800 pages - will cost over a TRILLION dollars ($1.055T). Nancy Pelosi says that it won't add anything to the debt? That it won't cost taxpayers "a dime"? Yea, right.

The number Nancy Pelosi herself keeps using is $894 billion, just under the $900 billion cap that President Obama wanted. But that $894 billion is the funding the bill provides for health coverage, not the cost.

Letter to Congressman Rick Boucher

I just sent this email to my Congressman, Rick Boucher.

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Subject: DO NOT APPROVE THE CURRENT HEALTHCARE BILL!

The current healthcare bill requires all private healthcare insurance (new registrations) to end in 2013.

I want to choose my own healthcare plan. Please vote against this bill.
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There are many other problems in this 2000-page bill, including $500 Billion in CUTS in Medicare, but letters to Congress or Senate members must be short and to-the-point.

I sent similar letters to my Senators, saying to vote against the bill if it gets approved by the House and comes before the Senate.

ACORN: Promoting prostitution, including child prostitution

News broken this morning:

ACORN, the organization that President Obama worked for as an attorney and "community organizer", the organization that has been given charge of the 2010 census by the White House - and the organization that has been charged in many states with election fraud...

ACORN - has been caught on tape with several members, not just a "rogue" employee, actually showing people how to engage in prostitution, including child prostitution, and how to do so with the appearance of legality.

They said to report the business activity as "performing arts", and to register the children as dependents for tax credit.

This group is getting MILLIONS, maybe even BILLIONS of dollars from US, the American taxpayers.

We've seen before how they register people like "Mickey Mouse" and others as voters.

We've seen how they bus people in from out of state to vote in places where advance registration is not required.

We've seen them organize protests and bus tours of the AIG executive homes, to make it seem that the general public was upset.

We've seen them "participate" at town hall forums concerning the President's healthcare agenda and we've seen them yell and get violent, so as to give the impression that those who object to the plan were unruly - when it was actually ACORN (and SEIU) people doing it all along.

And now we see them showing others how to do what they do best - how to game the system for personal benefit, even when the "personal benefits" are clearly and notoriously illegal.

Senator Edward Kennedy and Health Care

Senator Edward Kennedy died last night.

He has had a year and a half of treatments trying to save his life.

If the healthcare plan he has pushed passes, other people will not be able to get similar care. They will be given pain treatments instead.

This is not my opinion; Health Czar Dr. Ezekial Emanuel says that care will be provided based on "quality-adjusted life years." That means that if treatment costs more than $50,000 per anticipated year of quality life, the treatment will be denied.

It also means that if treatment will not significantly improve either length or quality of life, the treatment will be denied - for instance, if the procedure will just reduce pain (say, back surgery or knee/hip replacement), they'll just give pain treatments instead.

Of course, the current Democratic healthcare plan exempts the Congress and Senate members from itself; it only applies to "regular people"...

Our Federal Government is Financially Irresponsible

Our federal government can't handle $1 billion for Cash for Clunkers. The money was supposed to last 5 months, but it was gone in the first weekend.

Their response? Triple the funding. As it turned out, that only lasted a few more weeks. The Cash for Clunkers program, which was supposed to last until November 1, will now end on Monday, August 24.

A simple rebate requires 30 pages of paperwork, which has 136 pages of documentation. Rebate forms are being returned unpaid for simple spelling mistakes. The user agreement on the government website (though it was later changed after people complained) said that any computer that accessed the site became the property of the federal government and all information on it could be copied and any communications could be monitored and all information could be shared with any government entity, national or international.

Car dealers aren't getting reimbursed. They are giving out $3500-4500 per customer out of their own pockets (literally - most dealerships are sole proprietorships), but a month later, the government has only repaid 2% of the amount they've promised. Dealerships are stopping using the program because they can't afford it. And some in positions to know such things suggest that if the federal money runs out, the dealerships will just be out of luck on getting repaid at all.

Our federal government can't handle $1 billion for Cash for Clunkers.

But the same government, with the same legislators and the same bureaucrats, says they want $1.5 trillion for healthcare. They say they'll improve things. They really expect us to trust them?


With healthcare, the $1.5T will be spent in just as short a time. Then they'll just pass increases. Of course, they won't be able to just end the program once they've dismantled our current system, so they'll have to increase the funding again. Obviously, this means taxes. They've already long forgotten the campaign promises for no tax increases of any kind on anyone making less than $250,000/year, so there's no telling where things will head at that point.

There's no telling how much paperwork will be involved for a simple checkup, an x-ray of a suspected broken leg, a cut that needs stitches. Will the doctor be required to complete the 30 pages (or 300 pages, the way things are heading) before giving someone a drug for a heart attack? Or will the patient be expected to complete the paperwork himself before he can receive any treatment?

Will costs be unreimburseable if the form has a spelling mistake? Will coverage be denied if an emergency procedure isn't approved in advance by a government bureaucrat? Will doctors have to wait months for reimbursement? Will doctors stop accepting the government "insurance" plan like car dealers are doing with Cash for Clunkers, even if it means moving out of the country?

Unreasonable? Yes. But remember, the people passing the regulations won't have to deal with it themselves. Congress has already exempted themselves; they have their own plan for themselves and their families.