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By Jim DeMint
USAToday.com
There’s no fixing the government health care takeover Democrats forced through on Sunday. It must be repealed.
After telling Americans in 2008 that they would lower spending, taxes and insurance premiums, Democrats passed a bill that breaks every promise. Using secret deals, kickbacks and carve-outs, Democratic leaders jammed through legislation to control more than one-sixth of the nation’s economy.
The plan will explode the national debt, raise $569.2 billion in new taxes, force taxpayers to fund abortions, and impose unconstitutional mandates on every American.
All of this was done in the face of overwhelming public outrage and bipartisan opposition in Congress. This process has been an insult to our democracy and threatens our nation’s prosperity and freedom.
Government bureaucrats will now dictate the terms of our health care system. Americans must purchase Washington-formulated insurance plans or pay stiff penalties, a requirement that defies the Constitution and is a boon to the insurance companies the Democrats pretend to despise.
This plan raids $52 billion from Social Security. It cuts nearly $500 billion from Medicare and doesn’t count the hundreds of billions needed to compensate doctors who treat elderly patients. A portion of this trillion dollar bill is paid for with a government takeover of the student loan industry. The government will shut down private lenders, sell expensive loans to 19 million college students and use the profits to finance “ObamaCare.”
It adds millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program that many doctors and pharmacists refuse to participate in. Medicaid won’t do its patients any good if a doctor won’t treat them or a pharmacist won’t fill their prescriptions.
Even the bill’s most strident supporters doubt its effectiveness. Many admit to not understanding the bill they voted on. Some voted “yes” out of fear a “no” vote would hurt the president.
Americans objected at every turn, peacefully protesting for over a year and begging their leaders not to take away their health care freedom. They asked for common-sense solutions such as buying health insurance across state lines, stopping frivolous lawsuits that drive up costs, and giving the same tax breaks to those who don’t get insurance from employers.
Washington didn’t listen.
When a president and a Congress collude to violate the Constitution and ignore the American people, everything our nation stands for is at risk. It’s not too late to undo the damage.
I, and other Republicans, will work to repeal this monstrosity, and give Americans freedom to make their own health care choices.
Sen. Jim DeMint is a Republican from South Carolina.