Healthcare Takeover Signals Gap Between Current Congress and the American People

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2010
Contact: Greg Holloway (512.585.7631)

The following is a statement from the Austin Tea Party Patriots regarding tonight’s passage of the government healthcare takeover bill:

Tonight’s House vote, which sealed the beginning of the government takeover of the health care industry, was disappointing if not unexpected. It is a great loss for the American people, not only in the substance of the bill – which will cost jobs and result in ever more national debt – but also in the process of its passage. We cannot even begin to count the number of special deals that according to published reports went into corralling votes from Democratic Congressmen.

The bill is undoubtedly unconstitutional due to, among other reasons, its requirements that individuals purchase health insurance, whether they want it or not, and the unequal treatment of states. We applaud the announced efforts of General Abbott and Governor Perry in protecting Texas and its citizens from all unwarranted federal mandates. We have no way of knowing how long those efforts will take or whether they will be successful, but we know that we as a state must try since current estimates show the bill will leave Texas with at least $24 billion in unfunded mandates over a ten-year period.

The greatest tragedy is that the bill is not really equipped to accomplish its stated goal of extending coverage to chronically uninsured Americans and reducing healthcare costs. The benefits of the plan will not begin for nearly four years, leaving the truly indigent and needy without a workable solution for that period. We proposed a non-government plan that would begin benefits immediately, but it was never considered despite being introduced to the House last December. Furthermore, with the expected loss of jobs due to the expense of new employer insurance requirements, the working poor will once again be forced to bear a disproportionate burden of a social ‘fix.’

We are willing to bet that costs to the nation and individuals will far outstrip current Democratic estimates. After all, the plan will be administered by the IRS. As a matter of fact, we are willing to bet any Austin or San Antonio area Congressman who voted for the bill the amount of $25 that, over the next ten years, the fully-burdened costs to the nation, the states and individuals exceeds the current Democratic estimates by at least 25%.”

The goals of the Austin Tea Party Patriots are to educate, advocate and support citizens and their public servants in the group’s five core values: limited government, fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, the rule of law and national sovereignty. The Austin Tea Party Patriots can be found on the web at www.havinganaustinteaparty.com.

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