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3,400 Shalls

 

House Chamber, Washington D.C.  November 7, 2009.  M. Speaker:  The question before us comes to this: will Congress force American families to surrender control of their health care to the federal bureaucracy?

There’s nothing optional about this law – the word “shall” appears 3,400 times in it – each time backed by the full force of the government. 

You shall only get your health care through the government exchange.

You shall only select among the healthcare plans that the government czar has approved for you, whether they fit your family’s needs or not.

You shall buy a government-approved plan and pay for every government-imposed mandate in it through higher premiums, lower wages or higher taxes – and you’ll face steep fines and even federal prison if you decline to do so.

You “Shall” 3,400 times.

Whenever such a system is imposed, the result is always the same: massive cost overruns followed by a brutal rationing of care.

Instead of destroying everything that’s good about American health care, shouldn’t we first repair what’s wrong?

Primum non nocere – first, do no harm.
 

What's at Stake

 

What’s at Stake
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
November 3, 2009

M. Speaker:

What do Americans lose if Nancy Pelosi succeeds in taking over health care?

We’ll lose the freedom to shop around for the policy that best meets our own needs. 

Under her bill, we’re forced to purchase our insurance through a government run exchange.  We’re forced to purchase only those policies that meet all the requirements set by the new health czar or be fined for failing to do so.  And we’re forced to pay for all the cost overruns through higher premiums or higher future taxes. 

Where does all this lead?  In 1993, the government started a public option for student loans, but only a fraction of the public opted in. So last month, the House voted to give the government monopoly control over all student loans.

That’s about to happen to your health care unless 40 “Blue Dog” Democrats decide to stop them.  You need to call them today.

House Chamber, Washington, D.C.  June 12, 2009.  M. Speaker:  Many years ago, author and commentator Bruce Herschensohn made this point.   He said, for every pleasure in life, there is a corresponding risk. 

 I think that’s a universal truth: For every pleasure in life, there is a corresponding risk.

 And he pointed out that it’s true that with enough taxes, laws, restrictions, regulations, penalties and lectures, government can produce a virtually risk-free society.  But it will also be one of the most colorless, pleasureless, tedious and miserable societies ever conceived by the mind of man.

 I believe that is the case. 

The health risks of smoking are real and they are well documented.  Our schools rightly make a concerted effort to inform every child of the health risks associated with tobacco products, and they do a good job of it.  Our government warns every adult of the risks associated with tobacco products, and they do a good job of it, too. 

 As a result, I don’t believe there is a single individual in the United States who doesn’t well and fully comprehend the health risks of tobacco. 

 But once those warnings are issued, how much further should government go to make individual decisions for rational adults as they weigh the risks of smoking for themselves?

 Personally, I think they’re making a bad decision.  But they probably think others make bad decisions when they decide to go skiing or bungee jumping or skydiving or thousands of other pleasures that incur corresponding and calculated risks.

 And I would ask today, whatever happened to the notion of personal responsibility?  And whatever happened to the notion, as Jefferson put it, of a “a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another (but) shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement…”

 

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