While the country slept, the White House and the Democratic Congressional leadership brokered backroom deals with the unions. Does this sound like transparency to you? Does Obama seem like he is trying to hide from the people all of his deals and favors to implement what he calls "health care reform"? Is he even aware of the promises he made and the consequences of breaking those promises to the American people? I think not. I fired off two letters this morning - one to Senator Jim Webb and one to Senator Mark Warner, both of Virginia. I am appalled by the lengths to which these Democrats will go to pass reform that over 50% of the country does not want and does not agree with. This is insanity at its most basic form. How can they possibly sleep at night knowing they are ignoring their constituents and circumventing the Constitution they are sworn to uphold? What more will be demanded of them in order to pass this worthless bill? Will they now bow to the wishes of any group that contributes to their re-election coffers?
As the wife of a retired Navy Chief, I am astonished that the Democrats and the President are willing to fore go taxing union workers health care plans, but are more than willing to harm the veterans and families of active duty military by cutting Medicare and Tricare by half a trillion dollars. I never thought, for a second, that this country, which has always placed such a high value on military service would ever decide to give greater benefits to teachers, autoworkers and shipyard employees than they would to the men and women who have fought for and served this country in her time of need. But, this is exactly what they have chosen to do. The deal that the White House made last night with the unions is not only unconstitutional, but it is quite simply, unconscionable and must be defeated NOW! I have a Political Science degree and I know for a fact that it is against the Constitution to single out a population or individual and tax them more heavily than the rest of the citizens; likewise the tax cannot be waived for them either. Have we become a nation ruled by elitists so much so that only those who can afford to contribute to the coffers of the power-brokers have a right to be heard and are afforded special "arrangements"? If this is the case, the next time I am pulled over by a police officer for a traffic violation, I am going to offer him a bribe in the hope that my contribution to his personal "coffers" will deter him from writing me a ticket. If that fails, maybe I can convince the judge to let me pay my fine in 5 years or so, when it is convenient for me. That is exactly what this deal with the unions amounts to (a bribe) and I am ashamed of our President and Congress for agreeing to it. You should be as well. Of course, they will tell you that they will start paying those taxes on their "Cadillac" health plans in 2018, but there are two major flaws with that prediction. The first - 8 more years is plenty of time to negotiate another favorable deal with 4 more elections in the middle, and the second - if this bill passes, private insurers will go bankrupt and we will all be on socialized medicine anyway so no one will be paying extra taxes. We will already be taxed to death.
In my letters this morning, I told Webb and Warner to update their resume's because they were going to need them when they get voted out of office in 2012 and 2014, respectively. We all need to tell our Senators and Congressmen the same thing. Most members of the Congress, even Democratic ones, disagree with parts of or most of this bill. If they are to be true to their conscience, not to mention, their constituents, then we must urge them to vote against the entire bill. Let them know that you are prepared to work against them in the next election campaign and that many will join you. This is really all they care about, in the end anyway. If they truly cared about the people they are meant to serve, they would not even be considering voting for this sham of a reform bill. My hope is that calling into question their loyalties will sway them to the right side of this argument. This is probably false hope, but it's worth a try, right?
It is simply appalling that our nation's leaders are willing to broker a deal that takes revenue from the Federal government in order to maintain a positive relationship with a voting bloc. With the loss of $60+ billion from the un-imposed taxes on the unions, this bill no longer achieves the "budget-neutral" status that Obama has demanded. Hmmm.... will he still demand its passage in spite of this, or will he find another sub-population to tax to make up for the lost revenue? Time will tell, but my money's on him passing it anyway.
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