Target Dems Vote to Block ‘You Can Keep It’ Promise
FYI, a version of the release below went out to the following districts: Rick Boucher (VA-09); Bruce Braley (IA-01); Bart Gordon (TN-06); Jim Matheson (UT-02); Jerry McNerney (CA-11); Mike Ross (AR-04); Zack Space (OH-18); and Bart Stupak (MI-01).
Boucher Votes to Block ‘You Can Keep It’ Promise
Democrats Say One Thing, Do Another
Washington– Rick Boucher apparently doesn’t believe taxpayers have the right to choose the health care plan that works best for them. In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Boucher took a stand against consumer choice by voting against an amendment that would have prevented the Democrats’ healthcare bill from forcing Americans off of their current insurance plans. Instead of keeping the ‘You Can Keep It’ promise touted by President Barack Obama and Democrat leaders, Boucher cast a vote against what was supposed to be an underlying tenet of the Democrats’ healthcare plan. And according to a recent study by the Lewin Group, the Democrats’ bill would lead to a shift of 88.1 million American workers from private insurance to the so-called public option.
With his vote, Boucher told Virginia families that he has no problem forcing them to endure hours of waiting, higher insurance costs, and ballooning costs to taxpayers. Without the ‘You Can Keep It’ guarantee, Americans could be forced onto a public rationing plan like those that exist in Canada and Europe.
“Rick Boucher’s stance to further burden taxpayers while allowing the government to force people from their current coverage is the last thing Virginia families want from a healthcare plan,” Said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Chalk Rick Boucher’s vote to undercut competition and drive up costs for Virginia families as yet another broken promise.”
Background:
Democrats are already beginning to walk back their ‘you can keep it’ claims: “For example, Mr. Obama promises that people who are happy with their current health insurance can keep it. That’s a claim contradicted by Factcheck.org, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center.
“The group found that while the government would not require people to change their health insurance, proposals by Senate Democrats would result in some people losing health care benefits from employers, either because it would become too expensive or because workers would be able to get a better deal elsewhere.
“Such inconsistencies between the rhetoric and the reality cloud much of the health care debate as Mr. Obama retools some of his claims to fend off criticism and adjusts positions he staked out on the campaign trail.” (S.A. Miller, “Obama Health-Care Claims Disputed,” Washington Times, 7/23/09)
Small business groups immediately registered opposition to the plan, saying Democrats’ plan ‘threatens’ growth and job creation: “As our nation’s economy struggles to stabilize, policymakers agree that economic recovery, growth and job creation demand our focus and attention,” [National Association of Manufacturers] Executive Vice President Jay Timmons wrote in a letter to House Members. “However, some legislative proposals not only threaten sustainable growth and job creation, but also our economy’s ability to recover at all.”
“[National Federation of Independent Business] opposes the bill, it said, because “it threatens the viability of our nation’s job creators, fails to increase access and choice to all small businesses, destroys choice and competition for private insurance and fails to address the core challenge facing small business — cost.” (Murray, “NAM, NFIB Criticize House Health Care Proposal,” Roll Call, 7/15/09)
Similar systems in foreign countries force patients to wait for treatment – costing them valuable time and money: “Compared to 1993, waiting time in 2008 is 86 percent longer. Moreover, academic studies of waiting time have found that Canadians wait longer than Americans, Germans, and Swedes (sometimes) for cardiac care… Medical research has shown that longer waits can lead to adverse consequences for cardiac patients. Furthermore, economists attempting to quantify the cost of this waiting time have estimated it to amount to $1,100 to $5,600 annually per patient.” (“Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada,” Fraser Group, October 2008)
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