Wednesday, September 25, 2013

The Catholic Defender: Senator Ted Cruz

Senator Ted Cruz, my hats off to you and thank you for being a leader who is truly seeking to defund Obamacare.

At a time when people are giving platitudes of their opposition to Obamacare, you are actually doing something about it.

You stood up for more than 21 hours trying to bring into focus for the American people what is at stake with Obamacare.

I listened to your interview with Rush Limbaugh just moments after spending nearly 2 days on the Senate floor.  Even then, you came off totally sincere in your convictions to overturn Obamacare.

For some of you who might not have been following the problems with Obamacare, consider some of the following.

1.  When they passed Obamacare, there was an American cry to kill the bill, Nancy Pelosi and Company ramrodded this bill through against the American people's opposition at 70%.

2.  Nancy Pelosi called to vote for the bill so they could actually read what was in it?  In other words, it was a vast Government take over of basic American freedoms.  Since people have read the bill, 70% of the American people support defunding the bill.

3.  From Forbes Magazine:    Based on a Manhattan Institute analysis of the HHS numbers, Obamacare will increase underlying insurance rates for younger men by an average of 97 to 99 percent, and for younger women by an average of 55 to 62 percent. Worst off is North Carolina, which will see individual-market rates triple for women, and quadruple for men.

4.  Forbes Magazine:    Worst off was Nebraska, where the difference between the cheapest plan under the old system and under Obamacare was 279 percent for men, and 227 percent for women: more than triple the old rate. Faring best was Colorado, where rates will decline for both 27-year-old men and women by 36 percent. The only other state to see a rate decline in this analysis was New Hampshire: 8 percent for both men and women.

5.  Forbes Magazine:    For this cohort, men fared worst in North Carolina, with rate increases of 305 percent. Women got hammered in Nebraska, where rates will increase by a national high of 237 percent. Again, Colorado and New Hampshire fared best, with 17 percent and 5-8 percent declines, respectively.

6.  Forbes Magazine:     In the 13 states plus D.C., a 27-year-old would have to make 59 percent of the median income of his peers, or less, to come out ahead with regard to Obamacare’s subsidies. A 40-year-old would have to make less than 57 percent of the median income for his peers. On the other hand, older people fare better; the average 64-year-old who makes less than 111 percent of the median income for 64-year-olds will spend less on premiums than he did before.

7.  Forbes Magazine:     The Obama administration knows this, which is why its 15-page report makes no mention of premiums for insurance available on today’s market. Silence, they say, speaks louder than words. HHS’ silence on the difference between Obamacare’s insurance premiums and those available today tell you everything you need to know. Rates are going higher. And if you’re healthy, or you’re young, the Obama administration expects you to do your duty and pay up.

8.  The Heritage Foundation:     Nearly one-quarter of all seniors rely on Medicare Advantage, the private health care option in Medicare. However, Obamacare makes such deep cuts to that program that half of those covered will no longer be able to keep the coverage they have.

9.  The Heritage Foundation:     New taxes on drug companies ($27 billion) and medical device makers ($20 billion), as well as new reporting requirements and regulations imposed on physicians, will make access to health care and services more costly and difficult for seniors under Obamacare.

The following is from the Heritage Foundation, Obamacare: "The Top Ten Reasons it is wrong for America" 

Revised and updated September 16, 2009
 
  1. Millions Will Lose Their Current Insurance. Period. End of Story: President Obama wants Americans to believe they can keep their insurance if they like, but research from the government, private research firms, and think tanks show this is not the case. The economic incentives plus a government-run health plan as proposed in the House bill (H.R. 3200), would cause 88.1 million people to see their current employer-sponsored health plan disappear.
  2. Individual Mandate Means Less Liberty and More Taxes: Although he once opposed the idea, President Obama is now open to the imposition of an individual mandate that would require all Americans to have federally approved health insurance. This unprecedented federal directive not only takes away your individual freedom but could cost you as well. Lawmakers are considering a penalty or tax for those who don't buy government-approved health plans.
  3. Your Health Care Coverage Will Probably Change Anyway: Even if you kept your private insurance, eventually most remaining plans--whether employer plans or individual plans--would have to conform to new federal benefit standards. Moreover, the necessary plan "upgrades" will undoubtedly cost you more in premiums.
  4. The Umpire Is Also the First Baseman: The main argument for a "public option" is that it would increase competition. However, if the federal government creates a health care plan that it controls and also sets the rules for the private plans, there is little doubt that Washington would put its private sector "competitors" out of business sooner or later.
  5. The Fed Picks Your Treatment: President Obama said: "They're going to have to give up paying for things that don't make them healthier...If there's a blue pill and a red pill, and the blue pill is half the price of the red pill and works just as well, why not pay half for the thing that's going to make you well." Does that sound like a government that will stay out of your health care decisions?
  6. Higher Taxes Than Europe Hurt Small Businesses: A proposed surtax on the wealthy, included in the House Bill (H.R. 3200), will actually hit hundreds of thousands of small business ownerswho are dealing with a recession. If it is enacted, America's top earners and job creators will carry a larger overall tax burden than France, Italy, Germany, Japan, etc., with a total average tax rate greater than 52%. Is that the right recipe for jobs and wage growth?
  7. Who Makes Medical Decisions? What is the right medical treatment and should bureaucrats determine what Americans can or cannot have? While the House and Senate language is vague, amendments offered in House and Senate committees to block government rationing of care were routinely defeated. Cost or a federal health board could be the deciding factors. President Obama himself admitted this when he said, "Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller," when asked about an elderly woman who needed a pacemaker.
  8. Taxpayer-Funded Abortions?Nineteen Democrats recently asked the President to not sign any bill that doesn't explicitly exclude "abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan" or any bill that allows a federal health board to "recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package." Currently, these provisions do not exist.
  9. It's Not Paid For: The CBO says the current House plan would increase the deficit by $239 billion over 10 years. And that number will likely continue to rise over the long term. Similar entitlement bills in the past, including Medicare, have scored much lower than their actual eventual cost. A new study released by the Peterson Foundation estimates the House bill would add $1 trillion to the deficit in the second decade.
  10. Rushing It, Not Reading It: We've been down this road before--with the failed stimulus package. Back then, we also heard that we were in a crisis and that we needed to pass a 1,000-plus-page bill in a few hours--without reading it--or we would have 8% unemployment. Well, we know what happened. One Congressman even said it's pointless to read the reform bills without two days and two lawyers to make sense of it. Deception is the only reason to rush through a bill nobody truly understands.  
Notice that none of this addresses the war on the Catholic Church which should be a huge concern for Christians.  Where is the public outcry? Ted Cruz is a Southern Baptist who is taking this threat seriously.  Can we call on our Catholic Senators to jump on board to defund this bill? This bill is coming next week and once it is implemented, it is not going away.  Our national debt will continue to plunge deeper and deeper into and empty pit.




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