The Senate Finance Committee will vote on the health care reform bill on Tuesday, after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a preliminary report that estimates the bill authored by Senator Max Baucus of Montana will cost us $829 billion and reduce the projected deficit by $81 billion over 10 years.
From an October 8 article in The Hill:
The Senate Finance Committee will vote Tuesday morning on an $829 billion healthcare reform bill, giving Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) extra time to shore up wavering votes…
Baucus will use the next few days to secure the votes of several colleagues on Finance who have voiced concerns about the bill. At the top of that list are Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), and Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine)…
Baucus must also pay attention to Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) who represents a conservative state that turned in a strong vote against Obama during the 2008 presidential election. Lincoln faces a challenging reelection next year, when her vote on healthcare is expected to become a major campaign issue.
Democrats believe the CBO report gives the health care reform bill a big boost that will help them pass it. Quoting from the same article:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)… praised Baucus’s bill for reducing the budget by $81 billion over 10 years.
“Yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed that the Finance Committee [bill]… will reduce the deficit,” Reid said. “It said in black and white that the Finance Committee bill will reduce our deficit, not just in the short term, but over the long term.”
The legislation would also reduce the nation’s uninsured population by 29 million people.
Democrats view the score released Wednesday afternoon by the CBO as a major boost to Baucus’s bill. The nonpartisan analysis confirms that the package will fulfill President Barack Obama’s long-stated goal of reducing federal healthcare spending.
Republicans, on the other hand, discount the CBO report and point to the fact the bill will result in “hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees” on individual Americans and small businesses. According to a Fox News report:
Republicans — with the exception of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe — panned the Finance effort.
“A celebration of the deficit effects masks who pays the bills,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking Republican on the Finance Committee, said. “This package includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes and fees. Most Americans with health insurance will see their premiums increase.”
And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Finance Committee bill wasn’t viable anyway and “will never see the Senate floor.”
Finance Committee Republicans have been arguing the measure contains too many new taxes…
Meanwhile, a recent Rasmussen poll shows that most Americans oppose the part of the bill that forces Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine or penalty, and that only 46% support the current bill while 50% oppose:
The health care reform plan working its way through the U.S. Senate now includes a proposal that requires young and healthy Americans to either buy health insurance or pay a $750 annual penalty for not having it.
But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 55% of U.S. voters oppose that proposal. Just 32% of voters think young and healthy Americans should be forced to purchase health insurance or else pay a penalty…
As on many questions related to the contentious health care debate, there is a noticeable partisan divide. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of Republicans and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major political party oppose requiring young and healthy Americans to either buy health insurance or pay an annual penalty. Among Democrats, on the other hand, 46% think the provision is a good idea, while 33% oppose it.
The Senate Finance Committee added the “individual mandate” to its version of the health care plan on a bipartisan vote late last week, after the level of the penalty was reduced. But a Republican amendment to prohibit new taxes on those earning less than $250,000 was defeated on a party-line vote, with just one Democratic senator in favor of it.
Forty-six percent (46%) of voters now favor the health care reform plan, up five points from a week ago, but 50% are still opposed to it.
The Constitution of the United States does not give Congress the legal authority to force individual Americans to buy anything under the threat of fines and even jail time for those who refuse. We the People should not allow Congress to pass this provision.
The only legitimate purpose of government is to protect our inalienable rights, to keep oppression and tyranny off our backs so we are free to chase our dreams and overcome obstacles toward the achievement of our goals. Period. Especially when it comes to our health, Congress must protect freedom of choice for every individual.
Tell your Senators and Representatives how you want them to do their jobs. Tell them how to represent you and your family so you can be what you were born to be: free and independent. Help shape the EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
We the People are Sovereigns, not subjects. Let’s start acting like it.
JOIN US. CONTROL GOVERNMENT. BE FREE AND INDEPENDENT.
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