I am a private citizen, but I served three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives back in the ‘80s, and I was state chairman for three different presidential campaigns. I want to speak with you briefly about the Health Care Bill that Speaker Pelosi intends to pass on November 5 or 6. I want to explain why this bill is totally out of place in our system of government.
I begin with a conversation I had recently with my son in-law who runs an automobile repair shop north of Grand Marais, near the Canadian border. I asked him if he had ever repaired cars owned by Canadians who were coming here for medical care. He said, yes he had. He also said it was not that unusual. I then asked if he ever repaired cars owned by U.S. citizens who were traveling to Canada for medical care? He replied, “Are you kidding? Why would anyone do that?”
He was reflecting what we all know—that Canadians come here for health care because we have more to offer. Why should we make radical changes to our system only to move to something that is decidedly inferior?
The answer to that question lies in statements by the President’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, who has said, “Never let a crisis to go to waste.” And: “They [crises] are opportunities to do big things.” That means “big things” in the mind of Rahm Emanuel, of course.
It follows that the health care bill is also about “big things,” big ideas–the ideas of Rahm Emanuel and those who think like him. One of the most important “big things” for Rahm Emanuel is government-run health care. The bill in Congress is not about “reform.” It’s all about the federal government running things at the expense of our freedom.
For example, you now can decide if you want to buy health insurance or not. It’s a free country. It’s up to you. But under this bill, that freedom is gone. By law you must have insurance, and if you don’t, you will be fined and can even be put in prison. Your freedom to make that decision is gone.
Let’s go to a second example: You now can decide which insurance company to do business with. Under this bill, that freedom becomes an illusion—the reason being that all insurance companies are forced to join the “Health Insurance Exchange” where they will essentially be run by the government. You can choose the company, but in reality it doesn’t matter because all the choices are the same.
A third example—you can now decide what medical treatment is right for you. It is a free country—you decide. The Pelosi bill, in contrast, creates what it calls the “Medical Benefits Advisory Committee.” We will just call it “the Committee.” The Committee will decide the parameters, the limitations, within which you can make your decisions.
Notice what has just happened—in a free country we the people put limitations on the government. That is what we mean by “limited government.” That is the purpose of our Constitution. But in the Pelosi bill, the government puts limits on us. We have crossed the Rubicon. We have been changed, transformed, from a nation of limited government to a nation of limited people. That’s what this bill is all about.
What to do? Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota’s 6th district is asking those who can to come to the front steps of the nation’s Capitol on Thursday, 12:00 noon, for a press conference on this bill. I will be there. If at all possible, you need to be there, too. We need to demonstrate by our being there that this bill is absolutely not acceptable in our free land.
If you can’t be there, you need to be calling and writing your senators and representatives in Washington. Find out who the good ones are and who the bad ones are. Get on the case of the bad ones. Call and write them not just once, but repeatedly until they come to their senses and agree to vote ”no.” It was Everett Dirksen who said, “The more I feel the heat, the better I see the light.” We have way too many Senators and Representatives who need to feel that heat.
Every generation in our country has fought the fight for freedom. For George Washington it was the War for Independence; for Abraham Lincoln it was the Civil War; for Ronald Reagan it was the Cold War. And for us—it it this war, it’s the battle against the Nanny State, the battle to remain a nation where we are free indeed. This is our fight, this is our time. Let us not shrink from the task. Let us leave to our children a nation of people who are still free.
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