Public Option Will Leave No Other Options

I met with insurance underwriters a few days ago. These are the people who sell you your health insurance, explain your benefits to you and take care of documenting the details about your claims.

In other words, they are your neighbors and people who employ a few people in your town. They pay taxes, support the local soccer or little league teams. They serve in the local chamber of commerce, volunteer through Lions clubs and Rotary clubs, and teach your Sunday school classes.

They are just like you and me

This morning, they were afraid. They told me that "The health care bill will take our jobs away," and that "The health care bill will kill our small business." And they're absolutely right. If a national healthcare plan with a public option is passed, these jobs that used to be in your community will disappear and there will be fewer soccer teams next year. There will be less money deposited in the local banks. The jobs that used to provide local and state taxes will be transferred to the government run insurance-the so-called public option.

When you call to get an explanation of your benefits, it will be like when you call the IRS to ask about your taxes: recorded answers and incorrect explanations. You will be as frustrated as when you have to wait in lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles. And in the end, because government can't run business, you will get less coverage for the money you pay.  We see that occurring now in Social Security.  You used to be able to retire at 62, but now the Social Security brochures tell you that you will have to work till 66 to get full benefits.

Originally, Social Security rates were only one percent - now, they're over six percent, and will have to go over eight percent to keep the system out of deficit.

Once it has your money in its hands, the government can't control its appetite to spend it. If you are buying your insurance from your neighbor, you can complain about the escalating costs, and if they don't respond in a suitable fashion you can find a better, less expensive policy. That is the power of the free market-the power of competition. But if the government is the insurance provider, you cannot compare rates, and complaining won't do you any good.

The healthcare debate has begun in the Senate. Nancy Pelosi has already rammed it through the house with 218 of her democrats voting for it, but recent polling has showed only 38% of Americans support the Democrat healthcare plan (as in this report) and only 27% favor a single-payer system that is being advocated by some (see this link).

So what can you do to stop it?

Make sure your voice is heard! Stand in the street with signs when your senator comes to town. If he doesn't ever come to town, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper pointing out how long it has been since he visited your community. Call, write or email their offices as often as you can and then tell the other people in your town how many times you have called or written their office to express your opinion and only got a form letter or stock response back - or nothing at all.

When you call and write to your representatives, be sure to tell them exactly how you feel about this issue.  Tell them that the government helthcare legislation will kill small businesses and ruin healthcare quality and make the price completely unaffordable.  Most of all, ask where the job losses will stop if we let the government kill the insurance businesses in our town. The government has already closed down over a thousand GM and Chrysler dealerships, with 3000 more they plan to close soon.

Those are jobs lost in your town

The government has taken over Wall Street and it is considering legislation (details here) that will put local banks under increasing regulation, putting more local businesses and local jobs at risk

As Winthrop Quigley wrote in the Albuquerque Journal:

"Charter Bank has fewer bad loans on its books today than it had six months ago, nearly all of its commercial and residential real estate borrowers are paying on time, real estate values in New Mexico are stabilizing and the bank is solvent. That didn't keep the federal Office of Thrift Supervision regulators from imposing new restrictions on Albuquerque-headquartered Charter's operations and requiring the bank to substantially increase reserves against loan losses.  Charter isn't the only New Mexico bank under the federal gun..."

If you agree with this government takeover, you don't need to do anything. It is taking place without any effort from you.

If you object, now is the time to act. Most of you have never been activists. You have gone to work every day, raised your family, supported your church and otherwise made your community function. But now more than ever, you are called to fight for our freedoms, for our jobs, and for the American way of life. The stakes are high: your way of life, your entire life's savings, the value of your home...everything is at risk. We must end this uncontrolled spending and government takeover of the economy.

We Must Act Now

Write, call and email your representatives at the addresses below

Senator Jeff Bingaman

email: senator_bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov

(800) 443-8658
(202) 224-5521

Senator Tom Udall

email: http://tomudall.senate.gov/?p=contact
(202) 224-6621
(575) 526-5475

Representative Harry Teague

email: http://forms.house.gov/teague/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

(202) 225-2365
(575) 393-0510
(575)-522-3908

A phone call is probably the quickest and best way to make sure you are heard.  But every contact counts.  It lets them know that you are paying attention to what they are up to and that you don't like it.  They may be a thousand miles away, but every phone call, every email is a potential vote. 

And there are always other ways you can get even more involved to help make changes like this permanent.  Click the "Get Invoved" section on the right hand side of this page to join us in our mission to bring accountability and common sense back to government.  Or, you can always donate to Steve in the "Every Dollar Counts" campaign.  Every dollar, every phone call, every email counts - and your voice does make a difference.