Just So You Know

Regardless of where you stand on the so-called "health care reform" bill, you should know how your representatives voted.

Both Michaud and Pingree voted for it. They voted yes because it has some good parts, and because they are partisan - voting for whatever benefits the party and to Hell with the people or the country. But representatives should never pass a very bad bill just because there are a few good things about it. That's like eating poisoned food just because sugar was added.

Personally, inasmuch as I am sympathetic toward those who may not be getting the health care they like at a cost they can afford (no one in my family is insured), I opposed the bill on several Constitutional grounds. It matters not if it is a good or bad idea. It only matters if it is legal within the Constitutional boundaries. It is not.

Parts of the bill were good, and most Republicans agree. But many more parts were bad - very bad - and that is where we parted company with the liberals. Constitutional issues are not the only problem. Here is just one example of several hundred: businesses with 50 or more employees will be required to provide insurance. If a business has 49 employees now, and it hires just one more person his costs go up by $600,000 the FIRST YEAR ALONE, and every year thereafter. That's because hiring that person will now force the business owner to pay $1000/month for all 50 employees. That's $600,000. I do not know of any small business that could afford such a huge hit, so they simply will not hire. Jobs lost. Growth stunted. Liberals just do not think ahead to the unintended consequences. They look to see if it LOOKS good. They never look deeper to see if it IS good.

Thanks to our own representatives who voted for this, the door has now been opened for the government to force free citizens to buy whatever products the government deems beneficial to the country. After all, if they can force a free citizen to buy health insurance - even when he neither needs nor wants it, and can afford to self-insure - then they can also force you to buy only GM cars (American, owned by the government, and pays union dues), or they can force you to buy Treasuries to help keep the nation afloat. In fact, this establishes a precedent to allow the government to force us to do whatever they decide is good for the government.

And that, my friends and neighbors, is socialism and tyranny, not democracy.

When you give up self-reliance in favor of entitlements, you also give up your freedoms.

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