Editorial - 22 Dec 09

Health Care Reform - What People Want

T here's several things wrong with Jack Kinstlinger's letter (printed in the Baltimore Sun today) "GOP digs its political grave".

We're sure it's convenient for Mr. Kinstlinger to assume that a bill that is now wildly unpopular will one day be wildly popular. That's within his rights.

Re-writing history, however, is not within his rights. In fact, the 1935 Social Security vote was supported by the vast majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate, which is a far cry from the unanimous Republican opposition to the current bill.

We would also point out that the current bill has been drastically downsized from the single-payer plan first proposed, and it now appears that neither the public option nor federally financed abortions will make their way into the final bill.

Lastly, Republicans have supported health care reform all along, and printed a 800+ page first-step solution to the problem. The Republican plan dealt primarily with the component Americans care most about - bringing down the cost of health care. This is a far cry from the Democrat's plan, which many suspect will increase the cost of health care, raise taxes, infuse the government into personal decisions and, like Social Security, eventually go bankrupt. All that, and it was passed on the backs of special favors and kickbacks to Democrat dissenters, all to be paid for by the American people. One may ask the question why, if this program is so good, did Harry Reid have to all but exempt Louisiana and Nebraska from the mandates in order to get their Senator's in line? If it's good enough for the rest of us, why not Nebraska?

We'll find out in the 2011 elections if Mr. Kinstlinger's prophecy of American acceptance is correct or not. Regardless, this bill is a far cry from the disaster Pelosi and Reid first tried to roll out, and for that we have the Republican Party and the American people to thank.



Editor - bethesite.com