I am completely amazed and insulted at how politicians view their constituents and the American public in general.  Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a protest at the office of our representative from Maryland, Robert Wexler.

This event was organized by Elaine Laffey and she did a great job. I am very proud of her efforts.  Wexler's people tried to organize a counter protest to protest the protest......I think.  They did have a few retired people show up with signs supporting HR 676.  I was just there to show my support for a supporter of mine for something that she is passionate about, and rightfully so. I did not go as any part of our campaign. No signs and no shirts.  This was about Elaine and HR 676 and the American people.

So, when I arrived I immediately went to "the other side" and asked some questions as to their position regarding this healthcare plan.  Of course, just like our politicians, none of them actually read the bill so they spoke in sound bites that they were probably told by Wexler's office.  Unfortunately, none of them had any facts but they did have a handout that stated reasons why we should support HR 676.  I did take one of the handouts to verify the information.  It actually did state some of the real messages from the actual bill.  With the exception of one doctor who showed up, I was amazed at the lack of respect shown to me by people that looked quite grandfatherly.  The rudeness, the filth and the venom that poured out of their mouths would make a drunken sailor blush and I was embarrassed for any passers by that would have to see an 80 year old man "flipping the bird" to anyone who actually knew the truth and disagreed with him.

OK, now to the meat of this bill.  First, I read the whole bill....twice, just in case I missed something. You know how our president is always on television saying that if you like your healthcare coverage and your doctor, nothing will change and you can keep what you presently have?  That is a complete lie.  Section 104(A) of HR 676 states, "It is unlawful for a private health insurer to sell health insurance coverage that duplicates the benefits provided under this act."  To summarize, your current, private health insurer (Aetna, BC/BS, etc) will not be able to provide you with any insurance except for cosmetic surgery.  Maybe I do not understand the subtle nuances of government legislation but I understand when it says in plain language that it will be made "unlawful" for you to keep what you already have.  These politicians must really think that we are stupid. Or, maybe they figure that, since they don't read the bill, neither will we.

That really is enough for me to kill this bill but I will mention a few more items of interest.  Section 101(a) clearly states that, "All individuals residing in the United States are covered" under this act.  That means that all "illegal" immigrants and visitors will be in the program.  It does not say, "if you want it". Why would anyone want private insurance if they are already in this program and paying for it, whether they want to or not? They wouldn't.  That is the point.  Also in that section it says that they will issue everyone identification cards that will not be based on a social security number.  (TIC)That's good news for all of the illegal immigrants that do not have social security numbers. Do you see a pattern here?

There are many other items that will make you sick thinking about them passing this "healthcare" plan but I want you to read it for yourself.  Let me just conclude with one more little item.  They tout this legislation as an expansion of medicare for everyone.  Medicare, besides being corrupt and government run, costs a little over $10,000 per year for each person covered.  So a family of four would cost the American taxpayer about $40,000.  I guess the $5,000 per year that I pay for my family of four is more than $40,000 per year based on some weird form of "government math".  Maybe that is why our politicians will not strike the bill, although they do estimate that the Kennedy plan will cost $1,000,000,000,000 to cover 16 million people.  Here is the math:  306,000,000 people/16,000,000 times $1,000,000,000,000 = a little over $19,000,000,000.  That is 19 TRILLION dollars, in case your eyes went blurry with all of the zeros.

I am all for affordable health insurance for every "legal citizen" in the United States.  But let's keep in mind that heath insurance is not a right granted to us in the constitution and it certainly is not for "illegal" immigrants. We really need to get rid of Wexler and all of the other politician criminals that currently continue to introduce and pass stupid legislation at the expense of our children's future just so they can buy votes and continue their corrupt ways.

Yours in service,

Edward