Posted by
Ron Devito on Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:38:26 PM
Following is the complete transcript of Governor Palin's Facebook post
on the Pelosi Health Care Plan, in which she delineates all the reasons
why this bill should be killed.
We need to be vigilant in investigating the ramifications
of the Pelosi Health Care Bill. Some provisions sound so outrageous as
to be considered impossible to fathom, but they’re right there in the
bill in black and white. For instance, page 297 of the bill explains
the punishment for not purchasing government mandated health insurance.
If you don’t buy what the government considers “acceptable health care
coverage,” you’re going to be hit with a tax of at least 2.5% of your
income. And if you don’t pay that new tax, you could be fined as much
as $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison (Palin, 2009,
¶1).
But here’s the thing: they have to make the penalty for opting out very
harsh in order to force us to buy coverage. The only way to keep this
government run health care plan afloat is for everyone to buy into it –
especially young and healthy people. That means that they will have to
penalize citizens if we choose not to buy a plan that will cost a
minimum of about $15,000 per family per year (Palin, 2009, ¶2).
The bill that came out of the Senate last month – the Baucus Bill –
does just the opposite. It calls for a much lighter penalty ($750
maximum) for people who don’t buy government approved health coverage,
making it cheaper to pay the fine than to pay for the coverage. (And
with a recession on, who can blame families for not wanting to pay
$15,000 for a government mandated health care plan?) (Palin, 2009, ¶3)
But here’s the kicker: the bill also forces insurance companies to
cover everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Think about what
that means. A lot of people – especially young and healthy people –
will just pay the penalty instead of purchasing coverage because
they’ll figure that it’ll always be there if they get sick, as
government has promised. That’s what will happen, and when it does it
will totally undermine the very concept of “insurance” – which is
basically a group of people pooling their resources over time to cover
themselves for a rainy day, paying while they’re healthy so that
they’re covered when they’re sick. Those who are healthy now pay for
those who are sick. If your insurance pool only contains sick people,
it’s a bust. And that’s what this government plan will be. Without all
of those young and healthy people paying into the pool and defraying
the costs, the government will have to pony up more and more money, and
who knows how long the whole crazy plan will last before it goes broke
– and our country with it (Palin, 2009, ¶4)!
That’s where we are with this bureaucratic mess: either the government
penalizes people so harshly that they could be hit with huge taxes and
even possible jail time, or the government makes the penalty a slap on
the wrist and undermines the plan from the get-go. Forcing individuals
to buy health insurance seems unconstitutional, yet Congress wants to
foist it on us anyway. Proponents of government controlled health care
will say, “But we’re made to buy car insurance and home insurance,
what’s the difference with health insurance?” It’s apples and oranges.
Auto insurance is a state law requirement, and people can always choose
not to drive. Banks might require you to have home owner’s insurance,
but again, you choose to own a home, just as you choose to drive. You
have no choice at all when it comes to this federal government health
care insurance mandate (Palin, 2009, ¶5).
There are other ways to reform health care without violating our
Constitution and our personal liberties. Let’s get back to discussing
market-driven, patient-centered, result-driven solutions, like, for
example, allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines,
tackling existing government waste and fraud, and reforming medical
malpractice laws (tort reform) to stop unwarranted lawsuits that force
doctors to order unnecessary procedures just to cover themselves
(Palin, 2009, ¶6).
Please let your Senators know that the Pelosi Bill should be dead on
arrival. Once we go down this big government path, it will be virtually
impossible to reverse course. Let’s fight for the reform that makes
sense for Americans before it’s too late (Palin, 2009, ¶7).
- Sarah Palin
Commentary:
Governor Palin illustrates in detail the differences between a command
economy solution (big government, socialism, communism) and free market
solutions.
References:
Palin, S. L. H. (2009, November 12). "Pelosi "Health Plan" Should Be DOA." Facebook, Sarah Palin. Retrieved November 12, 2009 from: http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin?v=wall#/note.php?note_id=172585453434