As part of the recent push to make the people's voices are heard in the health care debate, I e-mailed my elected representatives to make my opinions known. Most representatives send back a reply of some sort, either e-mail or some boilerplate reply with a stamped signature.
When I received my reply from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) I found more than I expected. I expected her to ignore the economists and push hard for the status quo. Even the idea of using tax monies to subsidized the inflated insurance company profits by proposing both vouchers to pay for insurance for the uninsured and coming out against allowing people to buy into the Medicare system. I did not expect the Senator to lie, yes lie in her response.
In the 3rd paragraph she comes out against allowing Medicare to compete with the private insurance since she believes this would lead to a single payer system. If you believe in the free market you should welcome this competition. If, as you state, government will run this inefficiently and bungle the system, then they will fail in the market. You are in effect stating that the current, for-profit players in the system's products are so poor and lacking that an inefficient government administered program would threaten their hegemony. If that is the case the problems in are health care system are worse than we thought.
In the same paragraph Sen. Hutchinson stated that she would not cover her family with government sponsored insurance. As a member of Congress she has access to a clinic in the Capital building run by the Department of the Navy, a government agency, which provides quick service in the event of feeling ill while at the office and not wanting to wait to make an appointment. If she needs a higher level of care or surgery, she can be treated at Walter Reed Medical Center run by the U.S. Army, another government agency. As a member of Congress she is able to pick plans to cover her family from a government administered insurance exchange, the same exchange that Ted Kennedy wanted to open up to the American people as far back as 1976 and that Barack Obama advocated during his campaign last year. You are the recipient of government administered health care right now.
The most incredible statements occurred at the end of the next paragraph in which she was trying to muddy the waters on the idea of a co-op. In her words, "The Administration has tried to bail out the banking, housing, and auto industry; would these co-ops be next? " That kind of sentiment might fire up those that might take what she says as gospel, but the rest of us might want to check out her statements. When you do, this sentence is a huge lie. First, it is not the administration of Barack Obama that bailed the banks or the housing market. It was a bill passed by Congress before the August recess in 2008 and signed into law by then President George Bush that bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and tried to mitigate the damage the sub prime lending meltdown caused. This bill passed with overwhelming support in the Senate and you voted Yea for final passage. Troubled Assets Relief Program, or the bank bailout was considered in September 2008. George Bush both proposed the legislation and signed it into law, and once again Kay you voted for its passage. Then when Barack Obama wished to extend a line of credit to our auto makers, which account for millions of jobs and the bulk of our manufacturing base only then did you come out against such actions. When George Bush asked you to write a blank check to Wall Street to save the very people whose reckless speculation helped cause, you could not say yes fast enough. Kay, get the facts straight before you pass judgement, trying to blame Barack Obama for the state of the Economy, which because of the Stimulus package is beginning to turn around, is like a homeowner blaming the firemen for the loss of their possessions in the fire they caused when they left the cigarette burning on counter which caused the fire.
Your letter was enlightening, you have proved what the progressive pundits have said all along, that the Republican party is devoid of real ideas for change, that their mantra is simply to oppose all legislation, cause gridlock and hope people aren't any wiser come election day. Texas deserves better in its elected representatives, it deserves fresh ideas in order to tackle the real problems it faces. Texans from Midland to the Rio Grande Valley need real leadership. With you and Rick Perry all we are left wondering is who is pulling the strings we see.
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