The American Spectator

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.13.09 @ 3:04PM

Screw 'em! REPEAL ALL THEIR CRAP...or enjoy serfdom.

Conservative Bob| 10.13.09 @ 3:54PM

A few short years from now.......Former Senator Snowe in an interview responded that upon reflection when history called she inadvertently answered the wrong line

jr| 10.13.09 @ 5:25PM

So if the Republicans in Congress can control who sits on a committee or panel, why is Snowe in such a prominent position? I guess they like to get crapped on by their "own."

Jim O'Brien| 10.14.09 @ 7:24AM

The medical plan passed by the Senate Finance Committee today will not improve medical care. It will make medical insurance premiums skyrocket. It will reduce Medicare for millions of seniors by $400 to 500 billion. It will drive more people into Medicaid, and increase government subsidies. It will cost $1.5 trillion or more over ten years and result in huge tax increases and/or increasingly unsustainable levels of public debt.

1) It will increase the threshold for deducting medical expenses on your tax return to 10% of adjusted gross income, from 7.5%. In other words, you can only deduct medical expenses that exceed 10% of AGI, instead of 7.5% of AGI.

2) By limiting co-pays and deductibles, it will increase insurance premiums paid by consumers.

3) By requiring insurance companies to take "all comers" regardless of pre-existing conditions, it will increase premiums paid by consumers. It will also limit our choices of insurance companies, since some will exit the business altogether.

4) New taxes on insurance companies, drug companies, and medical providers will result in higher medical expenses for consumers, since the taxes will be passed along in the prices charged.

5) $400 to $500 billion in cuts to Medicare will result in reduced availability of medical care, and lower quality care, for millions of senior citizens --- those who are most likely to need medical care. These cuts include over $100 billion in cuts to the very beneficial Medicare Advantage plans currently offered to seniors in coordination with private insurance companies. Obama does not like Medicare Advantage plans.

6) A 40% excise tax on employer-sponsored medical insurance plans will cause more companies to drop or reduce coverage for their employees.

7) A fine of $750 per person will be imposed for those who don't buy medical insurance. This provision violates the U.S. Constitution.

8) The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Senate Finance Committee's plan, passed today, would result in "savings" of $81 billion over ten years. This is a gross distortion of the truth. According to independent sources, the cost over the first ten years is more likely to be $1.5 trillion, requiring massive new tax increases and/or massive new government debt. The existing level of debt has already been labeled unsustainable by well-known "experts".

The Finance Committee plan is insane, unless of course one considers the real objective of the perpetrators, which is to kill private insurance and ultimately drive everyone into the so-called "public option", socialized medicine.