Opinion

Kline: Democrats spend too much, accomplish too little

11/6/2009 10:20:02 AM

Comments (26)

By Rep. John Kline

Our nation is at a crossroads. The course we chart now will forever transform our health care system and send ripples through our economy, our communities, and our homes.

Down one path, we see $1.3 trillion in new government mandates, bureaucratic red tape, and stifling tax increases. On the other, we see a package of targeted reforms aimed at solving our most pressing challenges in a way our nation can afford.

Choices in Washington are not always so stark. Lawmakers often reach across the aisle to work with political foes on sensible solutions to our nation's challenges. Unfortunately, the Democratic majority in Congress has cast bipartisanship aside in their quest to orchestrate a government takeover of our nation's health care system. The result is a highly partisan, financially irresponsible proposal that has polarized the nation. It didn't have to be this way.

For months, I've been calling on my Democratic colleagues to press the 'reset' button and embrace commonsense, targeted solutions to strengthen and reform health care. Democrats have instead left Republicans with no alternative but to propose our own plan. It's a plan I'm proud of, and one that would significantly improve health care affordability and access. Yet I would have preferred to join Democrats at the negotiating table to develop a plan together.

My goal from the outset has been to address the number one problem plaguing our health care system: the skyrocketing cost of coverage. We must bring down premiums while preserving coverage for those who currently like their benefits. And we must expand access to affordable coverage for Americans struggling to gain access to care.

To achieve those goals, it is neither necessary -- nor wise -- to dismantle our current health care system. Features of our current system work well, as any cancer survivor or transplant recipient can attest. America is home to the greatest medical innovation in the world, much of it taking place at the Mayo Clinic right here in our own backyard.

We must preserve what works while focusing on targeted reforms such as driving down prices and increasing competition by allowing individuals and families to purchase health insurance across state lines and giving individuals and small businesses the option of pooling together to acquire health insurance at lower prices -- as large corporations and labor unions do today.

Republicans also want to give states the tools and freedoms to pursue innovative strategies that will bring down health care costs. Approaches such as high-risk pools and other universal access programs will expand affordable coverage to those who need it most, particularly individuals with pre-existing medical conditions who too often struggle to find coverage.

Republicans are also committed to ending junk lawsuits, which drive up the cost of health care for everyone by forcing doctors to practice defensive medicine. Despite being endorsed by President Obama earlier this year, meaningful medical liability reform was completely ignored by congressional Democrats in Speaker Pelosi's latest government power grab.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the official "scorekeeper" for federal legislation, the Republican health care proposal will reduce private health insurance premiums by up to 10 percent, expand coverage to three million uninsured people, and reduce the federal deficit by $68 billion over the next 10 years.

Instead of bringing down the cost of health care, Democrats in Congress have proposed spending $1.3 trillion or more over the next decade. Their approach relies on a government-run plan with an unfair competitive advantage designed to crowd out the private sector. It's financed by crippling tax hikes on small businesses, penalties levied on employers and individual Americans, and hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts.

I am especially concerned for the more than 10 million American seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage, including 230,000 from Minnesota and more than 17,000 from my district, who will be the first -- but not the last -- Americans to lose the care they need.

Adding insult to injury, the Democrats' plan delays implementation of the new entitlement program and coverage subsidies but implements program cuts and collects taxes immediately -- artificially lowering the total cost of the program.

The Pelosi plan began as an 852 page proposal and now clocks in at 1,990 pages -- and that was before 42 pages of additional revisions were unveiled this week. At this rate, who knows how much more red tape and federal dictates are yet to come. To me, such complexity and confusion is exactly what Minnesotans don't need.

We can do better, and we must do better. I will continue pressing for reforms that reduce Americans' health care premiums and expand access to coverage. I will continue listening to my constituents, who do not want government bureaucrats to come between patients and their doctors. And I will continue extending a hand of bipartisanship, because working together, we can choose the right path.

U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Lakeville, represents Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District.

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irishman
Rochester, Mn

Posted on 11/6/2009 at 11:38:09 AM

If I was a conspiracy believer, you know the type, jfk, moonlanding, 9/11 etc, I would be tempted to put credence to the intended destruction of the US by crushing debt which will bankrupt our country and place in us in the category of a debtor/beggar nation before obama leaves office in 3 years.

When all of this insanity is added up I am less convinced this is not intentional.

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Kline: Democrats spend too much, accomplish too little

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