Rushed plan comes at too high a price

$1,500,000,000,000. That's the price tag of President Obama and Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's new health care proposal. The plan that Democrats unveiled last week would spend $1.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years as government attempts to frantically restructure our health care system. Despite the enormous price tag, this rushed plan would still leave up to 17 million Americans without health insurance and endanger the insurance coverage of millions more.

While reforming our healthcare system is necessary, putting our country further into debt is just wrong. Democrats in Washington have already spent trillions of taxpayer dollars this year and their healthcare plan is on track to spend trillions of dollars more – all money we don't have and definitely can't afford. The President said he wouldn't raise taxes on us, the middle class, but with the debt already climbing, it's hard to see how he can keep his promises. If the President intends on breaking his campaign promise not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 a year—and we knew he would – it's long past time that he says so. Healthcare reform is an important undertaking, but there are still many questions the President needs to answer.

Notwithstanding the hefty price tag, too many people lose under this plan. Small business owners will see hikes on income, payroll, and investment taxes—none of which will help them create more good paying jobs. In fact, those same small businesses that provide 85% of the jobs in our state may have to lay off employees or cut hours just to remain viable. Seniors face $400 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts. Working Americans will encounter $600 billion in new taxes. Massive tax increases on already struggling American families is a terrible idea that could prolong our recession by hindering growth.

Medical care in the U.S. is second to none. The American healthcare industry continues to lead the world in medical research. We receive better and faster healthcare than people from any other country with or without nationalized healthcare systems. While the Democrats want to spend trillions of our tax dollars on government-run healthcare that will operate with the same humming efficiency as your local DMV, we must focus on alternatives that reform healthcare responsibly while retaining the qualities that make our system successful. That means controlling soaring insurance costs, making sure we continue to see our doctors when we need to and have the quality of care we now expect – without handing our healthcare decisions over to the government. The proper tool to fix the ailments of our current healthcare system is not a hasty government takeover of the system based on political timetables. Your health care and the healthcare of your children are too important to be left in the hands of government bureaucrats.