The Most Concise Look at ObamaCare Yet

Simple truths of Obamacare
By: Michael Steele
March 20, 2010 06:46 AM EDT

President Obama recently arm-twisted reluctant Democrats to vote for the government takeover of health care with a direct personal appeal, saying, “the fate of his presidency is on the line.”

That this failed to incite revolt reveals how dangerous this Congress is for America. What they should have answered is: The fate of our country and future generations of Americans is on the line, Mr. President, and that’s more important.

The force and duration of the grassroots pushback against the government takeover of health care reveals that this debate has stumbled on something unusually unifying for the normally fractious American citizenry.

Pollsters of every political persuasion have been saying since last August: We know what we know. Despite all the “experts” trotted out to convince us that spending trillions will reduce the deficit, and growing government will somehow grow the job-creating sector, we’re just not buying it.

As Congressional Democrats shuttle between the Capitol and the White House, concocting sweetheart deals to entice votes from their nervous caucus members, they’ve lost sight of what Americans outside Washington already know:

The simple truth is that you can’t add a trillion dollars to the budget and claim it’s “revenue neutral” unless you are raising taxes or cutting benefits somewhere else. The simple truth is you can’t cut a half-trillion dollars from Medicare and claim it won’t affect seniors. The simple truth is you can’t procure votes with special deals for certain states and not others, then claim that all Americans are treated equally. The simple truth is you can’t claim transparency when every meeting, conversation and deal is behind closed doors. The simple truth is you can’t claim to be accountable when you’re willing to ignore the Constitution, on a technicality, to avoid having to answer for a shameful vote.

The simple truth is the President and the Congressional Democrats will have to face the verdict of history for what they’re doing. We, too, will have to answer to future generations for letting it happen. There will be no hiding from our grandchildren when they ask why a nation founded on the fear of government overreach and control allowed Big Government into our exam rooms, our medicine cabinets and our hospital beds.

We could prevent that unpleasant conversation. There’s still room for last-minute revisions. Wouldn’t it be great to tell our kids that, when we had the choice to trust our future to Washington bureaucrats, politicians and “experts” or to the job-creating class of small business owners and entrepreneurs, we were on the side of those who make the American economy strong?
Wouldn’t it be a proud moment if we could tell our kids that, when the businesses which could put laid-off Americans back to work were facing an unstable and unpredictable economic future, we put a stop to massive growth in taxation, red-tape and employer penalties?

The simple truth is we are at a crossroads and we must ask ourselves: Are we truly better off today than we were three years ago when Democrats took control of Congress?

Are our jobs, our businesses and our kids’ college funds more secure today than they were then? Do we want to accept a White House and Democrat Congress that forces us to endure a new “normal” of a 9-10 percent unemployment rate? Are we willing to let a Constitution-shredding Democrat Congress and a President obsessed with the fate of his presidency take us one step closer to crippling our economy and mortgaging our children’s future?

Instead of assaulting the small business class, we should be talking about which policies would best help the innovators and job-creators energize our economy. Instead of creating doubt about the future, we should be instilling the confidence and predictability that will replace the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs in our storefront windows with “Help Wanted” signs.

There is still time – this is not the hour for surrender or grim-faced resignation. We must put Congressional Democrats on undeniable notice: If you jeopardize our job security for the sake of a backroom deal or ideological extremism, you’ll be the ones hanging the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs.

The simple truth is with the vote scheduled for Sunday, the American people are ready for lasting solutions not political agendas.

For our part, Republicans will continue to say “no” to a government–run health care system that encourages out-of-control government spending, budget deficits and national debt and “yes” to American families, businesses and economic freedom.

If we don’t reverse the course we are on, we will be the first generation of Americans to hand our children a weaker and poorer country than the America we inherited. If we don’t stand up to this wild-eyed irresponsibility today, our children will not forgive us tomorrow for denying them the American dream.

Are you listening yet?