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| Americans Grow Hesitant on Health Care
Written by Alex Burrola
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Thursday, 06 August 2009 17:21
More and more Americans are now cautious of the expansive government control and limited personal freedoms in the proposed federal health care bill. One of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign pledges was to reform the American health care system by expanding coverage to millions of Americans currently uninsured and enhance coverage for those underinsured. The issue of health care was a key factor in the 2008 election, a proposal Democrats were eager to Republicans with on the campaign trail.
blog comments powered by Disqus Six months after President Obama’s inauguration, Congress has now taken on the challenge of crafting this legislation. But as the economic crisis continues and the Obama's job approval ratings begin to fall, doubts are beginning to set in as to whether or not the grand promises made on the campaign trail can become a reality in Washington. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the costs for the House's version of the bill nears a staggering $1 trillion over ten years. To off set cost, Obama has called for higher taxes on higher income Americans and on businesses to pay for this. Naturally, those charged with contributing towards this cost are not enthusiastic. Even with the conservative Democrats, as well as those in the Senate seeking to pass a more bipartisan compromise, the president may find that the window of opportunity to push through the most radical of reforms has passed. With the Congress in summer recess, members of both houses are returning home to their respective states and districts, providing concerned constituents the opportunity to voice their grievances to their elected representatives. Both sides can expect to get an earfulForbes earlier this year. Mindful of the public's growing skepticism, last week Obama began to reassure the town hall circuit against fears their current health plans would be adversely affected. However a recent report by Fortune Magazine affirmed such fears by highlighting a number of health care freedoms Americans would stand to lose if the reforms by House Democrats and the Senate Finance Committee became law. Prime among them include losing the freedom to choose your own doctor and losing freedom to keep your existing coverage after a period of five years. The president is swiftly learning that a supposed mandate of starry-eyed adoration will not get him far when Americans begin to learn of the fine print in the health care package. Furthermore, the infighting among liberal and centrist Democrats on this issue can threaten progress more lethally than minority Republicans can. Republicans, however, cannot afford to sit back and wait for Democrats to implode on this issue. Any clear and reasonable reading of the U.S. Constitution finds that there is no national “right to healthcare”. Unfortunately, decades of living in a republic that has taken it upon itself to provide more and more of the “safety net” and services from the federal government has conditioned generations of Americans to believe that very false premise. However, this is not sufficient grounds for Republicans to fight upon lest they risk more electoral disaster, as the battles of the late 1990s illustrate. From their position in the minority, Republicans hold few cards. They should (and have) made it their task to hammer home the enormous costs and risks of the proposed plans being made in such a tenuous and fragile economy. Add in the tax increases, which liberals would burden the wealthy with to fund these changes, and you have less money in the hands of those who are in the best position to create jobs that are critical to our economy. Republicans and their conservative allies among the Democrats would best serve their cause in two ways. First, fight to keep costs and taxes down while preserving the right of Americans to keep what they have. Second, further empower cash-strapped and overburdened states and localities to provide better coverage for their citizens by removing wasteful and unnecessary mandates and regulations upon them. Shunning political expedience and taking into account fiscal realities and the proper role of government would go a long way towards assisting Washington in crafting responsible health care reforms. Clearly America's health care system is an albatross insufficient and unworthy of the superpower whose neck it hangs around. Conservatives and liberals by their very nature will come from wholly differing opinions as how to deal with the problem, if at all. With Democrats and Republicans both eager to deliver, and with the American people waking up with a healthy and growing sense of skepticism, the environment may now be clear for truly meaningful reform. from interest groups and constituents concerned not only about costs and tax increases needed to pay for such ambitious plans, but fearful of losing the coverage they currently enjoy, as evidenced in a poll conducted by
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