Imagine my surprise on Sunday morning when I received an e-mail from the Conservative Republicans of Texas. I guess one of my esteemed Senators must have passed along my e-mail address even though my correspondence with their offices should have clued them in that I am not of their ideological ilk.
As you might suspect, said e-mail was a despicable screed filled with lies, fear mongering and grammatical errors. It is titled, "More Government Is No Solution for Healthcare." It begins like this:
No amount of speech making can hide the fact that Obama believes that federal government is the solution to America's healthcare problems. Common sense tells you that adding trillions of dollars to the deficit will not reduce federal health spending, but since when has common sense been used by those who want to dramatically expand the role of government.
It then continues:
In his 1981 Inaugural Address, President Reagan presented the opposite view, proclaiming, "Government is not the solution to our problem, it is the problem."
Might I point out the use of "Obama" and "President Reagan?" As others have noted, it must be written in the wingnuts code of conduct that they are forbidden from referring to the president by his title. The writer of the e-mail then goes off on a "socialism" tangent and rambles quite a bit. This bit was particularly well-written:
Obama continues to proclaim that big government can save us from our health problems. He and his socialist comrades must believe that there are enough gullible Americans who will believe their hype.
Socialist comrades -- would that be you and me? More socialist drivel:
Free enterprise capitalism is the soil in which liberty flourishes.
Everywhere socialism has been tried it has discouraged innovation and led to shortages and rationing of goods and services. Socialism is the drought in which liberty wilts and dies.
Socialism undermines the doctor-patient relationship. If you are covered by an HMO or by Medicare, then your doctor no longer works for you but for whoever pays his bills. The doctor must follow their rules and accept their fees. This is why you may feel that your doctor is not listening to you or doesn't seem to care. Your physician can only serve one master and it's not you. Do you want a doctor who works for the government?
He then gets to the really ridiculous part of the e-mail, the part where he lays out how to save our healthcare system:
The only thing that will save health care is a good dose of free enterprise, with doctors charging a fee for service, just like any other business. Treatment is consumer-based and permits the patient to choose how to spend his money. This can be easily achieved through the use of a Health Saving Account (HSA) coupled with a high deductible catastrophic insurance policy. HSAs are tax free and what you don't spend you can save.
Medical insurance can be made more affordable by allowing it to be purchased across state lines, providing more competition and lowering premiums.
But, the absolute best is the part that sounds a lot like Senator Coburn's response to the heartbroken woman who was sobbing at his town hall meeting when describing how she was not an adequate caregiver for her husband, but they could not afford professionals:
Here is an idea that can be implemented to help those who need medical care but cannot afford it. Before the government became involved in healthcare in the 1960s, there was an abundance of hospitals operated by various Christian denominations and charitable organizations. These organizations should be encouraged to once again provide medical care for the poor and indigent as was done in the past.
I guess that's all well and good, Christian charity and all, but I'm not really ready to put the lives of my family members into the hands of caring or not so caring strangers. I wonder if this man would want to rely on the kindness of others? By the way, the writer is a doctor. I think I'll write to him and ask how many patients he sees daily on a charity basis.
He ended with this warning about our nefarious goals:
The real intent of the socialists in attempting to take over the healthcare industry, which represents 17% of our gross national product, is to consolidate and centralize their control over the economy. They desire the power that comes with the control.
Our founding fathers fought the American Revolution to break the power of centralized government and establish a Republic which decentralized the powers of government. We must follow in their tread by exerting whatever political force is necessary to defeat Obama's radical socialized healthcare plan.
So, our cover is blown. We are all power mad socialists who want to control the economy by taking over the healthcare system. I'm realy glad I received this e-mail that so carefully unmasked our scheming ways. I really thought it was all about ensuring that every American had the right to see a doctor when he/she is ill. Glad he straightened that out for me.