HEALTH CARE: OBAMA DESTROYING FREE SPEECH

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(Reuters) - The White House kept insurance companies squarely in its sights Tuesday in the push for health care reform by releasing research showing that health insurance premiums have risen far faster than inflation in every U.S. State. If that research was funded by the taxpayers, (Reuters did not mention the source), then it was another waste of public funds. Who in their right mind would have thought they went down?

Apparently in the health care wars it's alright for the White House to release an official report on insurance premiums, the sole purpose of which is to discredit the industry as the villains in the debate. However, when insurance provider Humana sends out a letter to seniors warning them that they may lose Medicare benefits under the proposed plan they draw fire from the White House and end up having the HHS department investigate them for what? Speaking the truth?

Humana participates in The Medicare Advantage Plan which help seniors with medical costs. Under the Democratic plan, Medicare Advantage will be eliminated as a cost savings measure. Humana has an obligation and right to inform their customers of this change. The Government thinks otherwise. Calling it scare tactics, they claim that the letter looked too “official” and might confuse those reading it, as though it came from Washington. I have supplied a link to the letter in question and and upon reading it I think you'll agree that the White House must believe all our seniors are mentally challenged. http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/humanamailer.pdf

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told the public right before Obama adderssed the joint session of Congress that “lines in the sand will be drawn.” One of those lines must be reserved for the freedom of speech. It's no secret they want to silence the opposition and if they trample on our constitutional rights to do so, well the ends justify the means. Senator Mitch McConnell is right when he said on the floor that The President is implementing a “gag” order on the insurance companies and taking away their First Amendment right to free speech. The same way he is directing Congress to stifle any debate on health care. When Senator Jim Bunning tried to add an amendment to the bill on Wednesday which would require 72 hours be given so law makers could actually read the bill and the CBO could give cost estimates, it was voted down. That would sound like a reasonable request, but according to Democrats it's a delaying tactic. Senator John Kerry went as far as to say that nobody reads or understands all that language written in the bill anyway.

Now the left has been trying to discredit Senator McConnell by noting that he receives a substantial amount of PAC money from the Health Care Industry and his “gag” order statement was a direct result of protecting his contributors. Where did they get that information? From public records. He reports his contributions as required by law and they are legal, a concept many on the left find appalling. I will also remind those on the left that Senator McConnell is a strict Constitutionalist and has a record of voting against anything that might go against it. Case in point; he took the very unpopular stance of protecting ones right to burn the flag in protest simply because he believes it to be a right under the First Amendment. He actually agreed with you guys and although you won't admit it, Humana and all other insurance companies have that same right. McConnell may not agree with what you are saying, but he will defend your right to say it.

On the other hand, you never know what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will say. She weighed in on the subject by recommitting herself to “getting the job done” during an appearance in Philadelphia on Monday after touring a hospital there. "We will have legislation that will be passed in a matter of weeks, it will be signed in a matter of months by the President and it will have a very positive impact on America's families," She also said, “The House couldn't pass a bill without a public insurance plan.” So does that mean Obama is back on track with the public plan? I suppose she didn't see the recent polls that said 56% of the American public didn't want it. If that was an election percentage it would be considered a landslide.



This week has shown how desperate the Democrats are to move health care along. They will disregard the First Amendment, stifle any logical conversation or sensible amendment and worst of all, try to sell our seniors and the rest of the public on the fact that they can make your health care cheaper, not increase your taxes, and keep the whole thing deficit neutral.



The weeks not over yet and odds are pretty good that there's going to be another "Joe Wilson" moment.

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• GOP raps Dems for hushing insurers on Medicare (seattletimes.nwsource.com)