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Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a man who has delivered 4,000 babies into this world, has experienced the pre-government market and the post government control of medical care in America. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are inflicting their socialist fantasy theories on America. Ron Paul has real life experience. Who should you trust? His view couldn't be any clearer:
"I started medicine when there was no Medicare and no Medicaid and let me tell you, I don't remember one time when I saw people out in the streets begging for medical care. Now we do. With managed care and now with socialized medicine coming, believe me, quality will go down, costs will go up, there will be shortages, there will be lines and nobody is going to be happy. We've had corporate medicine now for about 30 years which is managed medicine by the government, and it has been a total disaster and it didn't do much more than push the costs up."
"The more the government is involved in an industry or service, the higher the prices go. So, in education costs go up way beyond the cost of living, and the cost of medicine goes way up. So you can't solve the problem of medical care by ignoring this. Now, Obama says, "What we're going to do is we're going to tremendously increase the services and we're going to cut all the payments to the doctors in the hospitals." I mean, where is he coming from? That can't possibly work."
Dr. Paul has proposed logical market based solutions to the healthcare crisis for years and as usual, has been ignored by Democrats and Republicans alike:
- Allowing families to claim a tax credit for the rising cost of health insurance premiums. With many families now spending close to $1,000 or even more for their monthly premiums, they need real tax relief -- including a dollar-for-dollar credit for every cent they spend on health care premiums -- to make medical care more affordable.
- A dollar-for-dollar tax credit that permits consumers to purchase "negative outcomes" insurance prior to undergoing surgery or other serious medical treatments. Negative outcomes insurance is a novel approach that guarantees those harmed receive fair compensation, while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the health care system. Patients receive this insurance payout without having to endure lengthy lawsuits, and without having to give away a large portion of their award to a trial lawyer. This also drastically reduces the costs imposed on physicians and hospitals by malpractice litigation. Individuals can purchase negative outcomes insurance at essentially no cost.
- A $500 per child tax credit for medical expenses and prescription drugs that are not reimbursed by insurance. Create a $3,000 tax credit for dependent children with terminal illnesses, cancer, or disabilities. Parents who are struggling to pay for their children's medical care, especially when those children have serious health problems or special needs, need every extra dollar. Waive the employee portion of Social Security payroll taxes (or self-employment taxes) for individuals with documented serious illnesses or cancer. Suspend Social Security taxes for primary caregivers with a sick spouse or child. There is no justification or excuse for collecting Social Security taxes from sick individuals who literally are fighting for their lives.
FREEDOM, LIBERTY & FREE MARKETS
"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." Alexis de Tocqueville
The Constitution of the United States and its Bill of Rights clearly define our method of representative government. Both our social and economic systems are based on private enterprise from which springs initiative and ingenuity. Ours is a system where the Federal Government should undertake no governmental, social or economic action, except where local government, or the people, cannot undertake it for themselves. No one in Washington DC, other than the Representative from Texas Ron Paul, understands or believes this. Over time, government has taken unwarranted actions to protect people from the consequences of their actions by restricting citizen options. In addition to invoking government to heavily regulate the economy and redistribute wealth, Democrats now insist that we need government to make many of our private decisions for us, because individuals can't be trusted to make them on their own. The passage of this 1,990 page socialist control bill will impose more restraint on your rights and inflict increased servitude to the State.
What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long." Thomas Sowell
Government has imposed policies on Americans in the name of public health that are aimed at regulating personal behavior. Anti-smoking initiatives, reducing alcohol consumption, demanding seatbelt and motorcycle helmet use, regulating diet and lifestyle in the name of curbing obesity, federalizing local issues like speed limits and the minimum drinking age, and generally using the unbending authority of the state to police away lifestyle risk. H. L. Mencken, a fierce critic of government during the early Twentieth Century, wrote, "The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it." This couldn't be any truer today, as our "saviors" enforce laws, regulations, and government "awareness campaigns", thrusting the filthy hands of government into every aspect of our lives. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the liberals in Congress are not passing the healthcare bill because they care about your health. They are passing the bill because the corporate lobbyists who wrote the bill have written it to benefit themselves. Government's power over your every health decision will increase exponentially.
Before Medicare and Medicaid, the poor and elderly were admitted to hospitals at the same rate as they are admitted today and received excellent care. Before those programs came into existence, every physician understood that he or she had a responsibility towards the less fortunate and free medical care was the norm. Physicians take the Hippocratic Oath seriously. These facts do not fit into the current liberal script of government rescuing us from greedy insurance companies and evil doctors. The fact is that no one in this country is dying because they lack healthcare. Every person in this country, including illegal aliens, can walk into an emergency room and they will be treated by the best doctors and nurses in the world. Dr Ron Paul explains how it was and how it will be:
"For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high-quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down, as the patient was directly responsible for payment, rather than an HMO or government program. The lesson is clear: when government and other third parties get involved, health care costs spiral. The answer is not a system of outright socialized medicine, but rather a system that encourages everyone -- doctors, hospitals, patients, and drug companies -- to keep costs down. As long as "somebody else" is paying the bill, the bill will be too high."
You can bet that Lyndon B. Johnson and Democrats in Congress assured the American public in 1965 that Medicare and Medicaid would save money. I doubt they would have been able to pass the bill if they had told Americans that it would result in a $100 trillion unfunded liability and would be racked with fraud, mismanagement and would drive healthcare costs dramatically higher. Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are lying to Americans again. Costs will rise dramatically and service levels will deteriorate. Within five years, Democrats will be calling for a Value Added Tax of 10% to 20% in order to cover the "unexpected" cost overruns in the new plan. More government control, less choice, less freedom, less liberty, and a country closer to bankruptcy will be the outcome.
NATIONAL RUSSIAN ROULETTE
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." Benjamin Franklin
The United States of America is at a crossroads. If we allow the government to take over our healthcare system and inflict more regulations, more rules, and more cost, while rationing care, this will be the final nail in our capitalism coffin. A country that is already $12 trillion in debt, with unfunded liabilities exceeding $100 trillion, fighting two wars of choice, policing the planet by occupying 170 countries, funding insolvent criminal mega-banks, running bankrupt car companies, conquering global warming, and solving peak oil with solar and wind, will now take over one-sixth of the U.S. economy by adding its profound wisdom to the healthcare system. Based on the Obama administration's own 10 year budget plan, adjusted for the new healthcare plan, the U.S. National Debt will rocket to $25 trillion by 2019. By 2020 the number of Americans over 65 will reach 54 million, up from 40 million in 2010. By 2030 it will reach 71 million.
"Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it." Thomas Sowell
