Did you see the left/right coalition letter against the health insurance mandate?

[jarel]

" March 19, 2010

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of our organizations and the millions of people we represent, we strongly encourage you to oppose the "individual mandate" in the "Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act of 2009."

Our groups and members may disagree on what are the best solutions to our health care problems, but this unprecedented coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum agrees that forcing individuals to buy insurance from private companies under the threat of fines or jail is not the reform we need.

The "individual mandate" is a section of the bill that requires every single American to buy health insurance-whether or not they want it or feel they can afford it-or break the law and face penalties and fines. Consequently, the bill does not actually "cover" 30 million more Americans-instead it makes them criminals if they do not buy insurance from private companies. We hope you agree that it is unconscionable to force people to buy a product from a private insurer. This would effectively be a tax-and a huge one-paid directly to a private industry.

Enacting this mandate would be a major victory for the insurance companies at the expense of the American people. It should be no surprise they support the government forcing everyone to buy their product. Imagine how the hamburger industry would respond if the government forced everyone to have hamburgers for lunch or pay fines?

According to the President's Council of Economic Advisers, the average annual premium for single coverage is $4,321. If the 46 million uninsured are forced to purchase private health insurance at that price, then the insurance industry stands to bring in up to $200 billion in new insurance premiums per year. The Senate bill also includes an estimated $630 billion in corporate welfare for private insurance companies in the form of subsidies over the next 10 years, creating even less incentive than currently exists for private insurance premiums to be lowered.

To make matters worse, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that 19 million Americans would not buy insurance and as a result would be forced to pay $29 billion in taxes/fines. The Joint Committee on Taxation has made it clear that failure to pay these fines could result in jail time.

Thirty-six states have passed or are considering measures that would allow their residents to opt out, including Virginia, Utah, Pennsylvania, Florida, Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio.

Given these fact, it is not surprising that a recent NBC News poll finds 57 percent of Americans do not want the government to create "a law that requires everyone to have health insurance coverage" and that only 38% of Americans favor the mandate, making it the least popular part of the bill.

The American people stand in firm opposition to the individual mandate. We stand with them. We hope you will, too.

Sincerely,

Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, President
Democrats.com, Bob Fertik, President
Healthcare-NOW!, Katie Robbins, National Organizer
FreedomWorks, Matt Kibbe, President and CEO
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Tim Carpenter, Director
Campaign for Liberty, John Tate, President
60 Plus Association, Jim Martin, President
Liberty Tree Foundation, Ben Manski, Executive Director
Hector Barreto, Chairman, The Latino Coalition
National Taxpayers Union, Duane Parde, President
National Coalition of Organized Women, Consuela Sylvester, Ohio Director
Citizens for Health, Jim Turner, Chairman
Competitive Enterprise Institute, Gregory Conko, Senior Fellow
American Association of Small Property Owners, F. Patricia Callahan, President
U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation, Dane vonBreichenruchardt, President
Institute for Liberty, Andrew Langer, President
Santa Monicans for Safe Drinking Water Coalition, Gene Burke, Founder, Director
Alliance for Natural Health USA, Gretchen DuBeau, Executive Director
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Jane Orient, Executive Director
Fairfax County Privacy Council, Mike Stollenwerk, Chairman
The Rutherford Institute, John W. Whitehead, President
Pain Relief Network, Siobhan Reynolds, Executive Director
American Policy Center, Tom DeWeese, President
Justice Through Music, Brett Kimberlin, Director
Velvet Revolution, Brad Friedman, Co-Founder
After Downing Street, David Swanson, Co-Founder
Project Vote Smart, Mark A. Adams, Founder
Democracy in Action (DIA), Dorothy Reilly, Organizer
Squadron13.com, Gordon Sturrock, Founder
Democracy for America - Tucson Chapter, Richard Kaiser, Co-chair
DownWithTyranny.com, Howie Klein, Publisher
Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights, J. Bradley Jansen, Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc., Jim Babka, President
Cyber Privacy Project, Richard Sobel, Director
Citizens For Legitimate Government, Lori R. Price, Managing Editor
Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Minnesota Chapter, Rick Agui

[philibert63]

Well i now wonder what is going on. Figure they blew us off as crack pots, but impressive list. Two House Reps stated today that the IRS would be adding over 16,000 new agents each year for the first four years to monitor this. can you imagine. They also said prohibition was handled by the Treasury department and not FBI and a power grab. Cannot figure out the lobbyists on this one although they will set new record and donate $4 billion plus this year.

Did Nancy Pelosi actually say she didn't know what was in the health bill and wanted everyone to just wait and see? If so the only time I believed anyone was when my doctor said "Trust me I'm a doctor", but don't even trust that now much less politicians.

It's a good day when you learn something new and never knew that about Hamilton, duh. Well let's hope our prayers work.

By the way how bout the Republican senator telling the ones that voted against the bill and now will vote for it. He said they would block any appointment or "deal' they got. Pretty good! But saw Landrieu explain that herr state would have to come up with $300 million to cover Fed budget cuts. So what do the other states do that are in the same boat? Have a fun weekend.

[taryn31]

Taxation without representation. It starts again. Feudalism has returned.

[lifton]

Add me to that list.

[jung-hwa75]

They'll blow them off just like everyone else in America.

( I like the letter though )

[drystan]

The Individual Mandate is unconstitutional, plain and simple. The Democrats can lie to themselves all they want, but the fact is that the Constitution does not grant the federal government the authority to force any private individual to engage in commerce against his will. Buying and selling health insurance is commerce. States have the right to require residents to have health insurance just as they have the right to require auto insurance. Democrats like to cite the federal government's regulation of interstate commerce as similar to this Mandate, but the fact remains that the feds can regulate the shipment and selling of food all they want; they cannot force me to buy any of it. Look up an article titled "Hatch, Blackwell and Klukowski: Why the Health Care Bills are unconstitutional". It cites several things in this bill that are unconsitutional and will no doubt be the subject of lawsuits soon.

[choviohoya]

It's amazing to me that an overwhelming majority of Americans are against this obamacare and they have let Washington know by phone, snail mail, e-mail, protest rallies all over America and Obama and congress has turned a blind eye to the wishes of the American people! If this bill is crammed down our throats how do you think Americans will react?

[barend31]

I have now.

This isn't about what the people want. They (Congress) could care less what the people want. This is a straight up power grab and the hell with what's right. The lesson we learn from this is to use our votes as term limits on public "servants". 2 terms and out. These 2 partys are flip sides of the same coin.

I don't know about you DAR, but I'm getting pretty tired of getting screwed without so much as a kiss.

[cuartio52]

I think at least they have something to wipe their as.s on sunday...