‘Historic’ health care reform
To the editor:
Be careful what you wish for. Be especially careful what you vote for. It’s nice to wish for universal health care, or in our case, a badly-written, overly complicated bill that serves as the foot in the door for universal health care, but in the real world, a vote for health care reform is a vote against the will of the majority of Americans, and a vote against the liberties we enjoy as American citizens.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was right when she said that the health care reform bill would make history. Never in the history of our country has the government coerced the people to spend their money in a certain way. Never in the history of our country has there been such a massive government debt. Never in the history of our country has the federal government assumed such sweeping powers over the lives of individual citizens.
History is not necessarily good. Pearl Harbor made history. Chernyobyl made history. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre made history. History is what people remember and pass on to those who weren’t there. History is filled with war, disease, slaughter, tyranny and the occasional flashes of heroism or courage that instill hope and make the world bearable.
On Sunday March 21, 2010, Rep. Michaud made history by signing away the future of America. “Health Care Reform” is a trillion dollar straw man that blatantly and irresponsibly ignores the looming financial wrecking ball that is Social Security. It ignores the already financially imperiled Medicare system. It ignores the $14 trillion in debt from years of senseless government spending and unfunded war. It ignores the doctor shortage that affects everyone, but most of all rural areas like Aroostook County.
“Reform”, as Mr. Michaud puts it, “is an important first step toward fixing our broken and unsustainable health care system.” The only way Mr. Michaud can arrive at such a conclusion is to completely ignore the federal government’s role in making the system unsustainable. Medicare is broke. Doctors are ditching Medicare patients because they simply can’t afford not to, which places greater strain on private insurance companies, doctors, and hospitals. Does Mr. Michaud expect us to believe that the antidote to Medicare’s financial woes is an expansion of government? That would be like attempting to regain sobriety by imbibing more liquor.
While the bleak financial outlook of Medicare and Social Security will no doubt erode our liberties indirectly, Mr. Michaud has, through his vote, helped to directly erode the property rights of the individual citizen. When the reform bill becomes law, many will face either an insurance premium they can’t afford, or a fine they can’t afford. Government is force, regardless of its intentions, and this provision reeks of coercion and unrighteous dominion.
By his vote, Mr. Michaud is telling the people of his district that the federal government is more qualified than his constituents in determining what is best for them, and that whatever scraps the government leaves its citizens after taxes will still not be theirs to spend as they wish.
There is but one remedy for Michael Michaud’s Historic Health Care vote. We as constituents, we as voters, we as sovereign citizens of a sovereign state, must remove Mr. Michaud from his position as our Representative. By his vote he has shown his disdain for our rights as individuals to determine our own destiny. He has demonstrated an inability to face the financial repercussions of reckless government expansion. He has proven that he is unfit to represent the people of Maine in the United States Congress. When I arrive at my polling place next November, I will keep in mind the words of Patrick Henry as I vote to remove Mr. Michaud from his office.
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Liberty or give me death.”
Haynesville
