Sunday, November 22, 2009

Shut up Stupid Sunday: The responce

In my Temper Tantrum Tuesday post, “A letter to my Congressman” http://projectsaviorreborn.blogspot.com/2009/11/temper-tantrum-tuesday-letter-to-my.html I posted a letter I sent to my congressman Ben Chandler and asked him to respond. In the letter I did mention that I would place his response here and I am keeping my word.
I did find a few errors in his form letter, which I have commented on in italics:

Thank you for contacting me about healthcare reform. As Central Kentucky's advocate in Washington, D.C., your views are important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share them. After hearing from many constituents on both sides, holding meetings throughout the district, and reading a 2,000-page bill which has changed dramatically in the past week, I voted against the bill because I do not believe it is the best course of action for the people of Central Kentucky, specifically our working families, small businesses, and seniors.

You did not hold meetings throughout your district. I know because in August when I heard how the teabaggers were going around disrupting the Town Hall Meetings I prepared signs saying, “I’m with Stupid” to point at them.

In particular, the cost of this bill for the taxpayer is too high. We already spend more on healthcare than any other country on earth, and now we are being asked to spend a trillion dollars more. The Congressional Budget Office states that the bill does not bring down the growing cost of healthcare and perpetuates a system that is fiscally unsustainable. I have serious concerns about forcing people to purchase health insurance they cannot afford, especially if we are not bringing down the costs.

The CBO says the exact opposite, that it will bring down the cost of healthcare and it will cut the Deficit, and lead to a savings of about $800 billion over the next 20 years.

I am also concerned the reform bill would not adequately protect our rural hospitals and our small businesses?" (Thank You for taking the time to proof read the form letter that you cut and pasted from the healthcare lobby) the engines of job creation. I have had these same concerns throughout this difficult debate, and in the end, do not believe this bill is the best for the Sixth Congressional District.

Small Businesses major problem right now is the high cost of healthcare, this bill specifically addresses that.
The rural hospitals problem is a serious flaw in the bill; however, they are being crushed under the current system. With or without this bill the problem needs will need to be addressed.

I appreciate the efforts of President Obama and the Democrats to put together a bill which incorporates a number of reforms that are long overdue, including greater regulation of insurance companies, the elimination of lifetime caps on coverage, and prohibiting denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Over 50 years overdue, I totally agree with you on this sentence.

There is no doubt that our healthcare system is broken, but I am not convinced that this bill today would lower costs, improve coverage, and maintain quality care in the long term.

In the long term we will all be dead. In the short and medium term this bill slow the rapidly increasing costs, expand coverage instead of shrinking it as our current situation is doing, and (mostly) treats medicine like a science, as opposed to the for profit model that will use any BS they can find regardless if it has any scientific proof to deny payouts.

Again, I value your input on healthcare reform. I hope you will stay in touch, and please feel free to visit http://chandler.house.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter keeping you up to date on issues affecting Central Kentucky in the 111th Congress.


Sincerely,

Ben Chandler
Member of Congress


Since 4 out of the first 5 paragraphs contained major distortions or outright lies I’m thinking that your last paragraph where you say you value my input is false as well.

I realize that I asked for your response on my website, but if you are going only reply with falsehoods I must respectfully ask that you “Shut-Up Stupid”.

1 comment:

Stephanie Barr said...

The fallacy that the total health costs per capita will go up make no sense. If we're going to make it so people can use preventive care (instead of inadequate emergency care) and cut overspending as well as cut some of the profit from those bleeding America dry, I find it hard to believe that cost per capita won't drop sharply, perhaps even into level of many other countries who already have universal healthcare that already covers everybody.

Don't hold your breath on that one as long as for-profit companies still have a grip on the balls of Congress like that loser (and my own).