Mr. President, where are the details?

Last evening, the President again delivered his speech sweetly and with passion but, again, we are left to wonder as to the details or the reliability of his assertions. In fact, the President himself indicated that all we need for healthcare reform are the details. Is this really such a small point?

Although the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has clearly stated that the plan to overhaul healthcare will actual substantially increase the cost for healthcare rather than control costs, the President again continues to maintain that the nation will realize literally $3 to $4 trillion in savings from his plan. My friends, saying it is so simply doesn’t make it so. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck.

Again, the President continued to offer promises for which he cannot deliver. More specifically, the President promised that no person or company would be forced away from their insurer if they are satisfied with their coverage. Unfortunately for most Americans, the reality is that companies – not individuals – make the decisions on plans and insurers. The fact is that if a public option is more cost effective for your company and it opts to force you into a government plan, you, my friend, will have no choice but to get in line.

The President assured us that not a single dollar would be taken away from seniors or Medicare but, more than once, he claimed that substantial savings could be realized through cost efficiencies and the elimination of waste and fraud in, of all things, Medicare and Medicaid programs. Hmmmm…

Although our healthcare system is in need of common sense reform, we cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. We cannot sacrifice the good of the current health system to remedy the bad. We need to deal with the challenges of pre-existing conditions, financial ruin of families that face a medical catastrophe, and portability – these are issues for which we agree. Where, however, is tort reform and other solutions that clearly demand reform?

The WV Conservative Foundation urges you to contact your congressman and tell him/her that you support common sense reform but not a government run system and not a system that sacrifices the good to simply repair the bad. How can a system that runs the post office, Medicare, Medicaid and social security actually maintain that it can run a national healthcare system more efficiently than the private sector?

My friends, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Don’t be the fool. Stand up and fight to protect your family’s and this nation’s healthcare system.