To quote one of my favorite economists, Gary Becker:
Despite the long debate, many provisions of both the House and Senate bills remain highly controversial. These include, among many others, the way the uninsured would get coverage, the de-emphasis on health savings accounts, the postponement until 2018 of the elimination of the tax advantages from expensive employer-based health plans, no increase in the ability of persons and companies in one state to contract with insurance companies located in other states, and especially the minor efforts to raise out of pocket expenses by consumers of health care in order to reduce their overuse of doctors, drugs, and even hospitals. Such a badly designed health care bill would on the whole worsen rather than improve the American health care system…. [link]
And, from his fellow-blogger, Richard Posner:
Because [the health care reform bill currently in congress] is unpopular among the general public, its enactment by a simple majority in both Houses would raise a valid question about the representative character of Congress…. [T]he health care program has been kicking around in Congress for a year, and the inability of its supporters to convince the public of the program’s wisdom, coupled with the program’s enormous cost and its potentially disruptive consequences for the health care industry…and indeed the entire economy, may make people question the democratic legitimacy of enacting the program with just a simple majority in the House and Senate. [link]
I oppose the health care reform bill because our government’s fiscal health is already in dire shape, and this bill will turn a dangerous fiscal disease into a terminal one. The Democrats’ push to pass this bill is a face-saving sellout of the welfare of the American people who, as I understand it, largely oppose the legislation. If you are a member of congress or perhaps an intern or electronic aggregator doing the bidding of one, be aware that this man wants you to vote ‘no’! Think of the future—not just this fall’s elections.
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