From the Sunday, December 13th edition of the Sioux City Journal
http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_c030c9d1-1d22-5bc1-a53a-60e80651477d.htmlWASHINGTON -- In a Dec. 6 Letter to the Editor in the Journal headlined Health care tops tax cuts for rich," the author is missing some key numbers. When fully implemented, the Senate health care bill would cost $2.5 trillion over 10 years, with spending partially offset by $895 billion in tax increases and $953 billion in Medicare cuts. I oppose the tax increases and Medicare cuts. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that for every middle-income taxpayer who would benefit under the bill, three middle-income taxpayers would pay higher taxes.
The tax bills of 2001 and 2003 cut the American peoples taxes by $1.7 trillion over 10 years. The tax cuts created a new 10 percent rate bracket, reduced all of the individual tax rates, increased and expanded the child tax credit, established a series of education tax incentives including a deduction for college tuition for low-income and middle-income families, and much more. These tax relief provisions are so popular that even President Obamas budget and budgets adopted by congressional Democrats extend this tax relief for taxpayers at $250,000 and under (families) and $200,000 and under (singles). That extension represents about 80 percent of the revenue loss of extending the policy.
Health reform should get the most bang for the buck and leave people better off than they are today. Unfortunately, the House and Senate health care bills would leave many Americans worse off. Many people would pay more taxes, higher premiums, and be put in jeopardy of losing the kind of health care they have now. We need to fix whats wrong with health care, not make things worse. -- U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley
After reading the Senator's letter, I felt compelled to respond:
Dear Senator Grassley:
I just finished reading your recent letter to the editor in the Sioux City Journal. I don't understand why the democrats are hell-bent on ramming a "healthcare" bill down the throats of a populace whose majority doesn't want it. Are there problems in our current healthcare system? Absolutely. But destroying what works in an attempt to fix what doesn't, makes no sense to any thinking person!
Why not start with tort reform so that healthcare providers don't feel the need to cover their backsides by ordering tests that the patient often doesn't need? Why not allow people to buy health insurance across state lines, and make it portable when someone moves from one employer to another? Why not go after the fraud, waste and abuse in the Medicare and medicaid systems and make them efficient? Do these ideas make too much sense?
You and I both know, however, that the democrats' healthcare proposals have nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with power and expanding a constituency base. I believe that rumbling we feel beneath our feet are the Founding Fathers rolling in their graves at what is happening in this country today.
On an unrelated note, I heard President Obama talk the other day about trying to "find ways to create jobs" in this country. I have a simple solution. See if this doesn't make sense:
1) Take the healthcare legislation debacle off the table.
2) Scrap the Cap & Trade proposals.
3) Make the "Bush Tax Cuts" permanent.
4) Get the hell out of the way and let the people who make this country work solve the problem.....something they've proven to be very good at for more than 230 years!!
Thank you, Senator, for tolerating my rant, and thank you for the job you do in the Senate. Keep up the good work!!
Sincerely,
Maybe SOME of our elected officials are listening to us afterall. Or am I being too optimistic?
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