LP Monday Message: Dems not backing down on public option, but stepping up the fight

Dear friend,

Faced with withering criticism from the independent voters who elected Obama, as well as polls showing majorities of Americans oppose their health care reform plans and would prefer government inaction to the current system, the media reported this weekend Democrats may consider removing a provision for government-run health insurance from a massive bill outlining a government takeover of the nation’s health care system.
 
Don’t be fooled.  The so-called “public option” isn’t about to be taken off the table. The eradication of your private health insurance plans is at the very core of the entire so-called “reform” movement.
 
Just listen to official White House health care spokesperson Linda Douglass.  “Nothing has changed. The president has always said that what is essential is that health insurance reform must lower costs, ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans and it must increase choice and competition in the health insurance market. He believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals.”
 
House Democrats also tell the Capitol Hill newspaper Politico government-run health insurance will stay in their bill.  It’s their goal for the legislation.
 
Not only will Democrats never relent on their plans for government-run insurance, they are instead doubling down in their attacks on advocates of free market reforms.
 
It already began today at The Washington Post.  There, the official Democrat Party playbook turned the page to its typical Hail Mary play – broad-brush accusations of racism.
 
The Post’s Susan Jacoby, opening an online discussion with readers this morning, asked if opposition to government-run health care was A) the “unwillingness of an unreconciled minority to accept the legitimacy of an African-American president,” or B) “right-wing populism (which has always included a strong element of racism).”
 
At no time did she ever suggest opposition to government-run health care was the product of anything other than hate.
 
Why would advocates of government-run health care accelerate their assaults on millions of everyday Americans if they were truly giving up their fight for government-run health insurance?
 
Because they’re not.  They have already declared they will pass government-run health care regardless of whether or not the eventual government-run insurance plan is in the first draft.
 
In a 2007 exchange with union officials, Barack Obama openly stated his style of health care “reform” will lead to the eventual eradication of private health insurance, regardless of whether the so-called “public option” is in the final draft of the bill – or quietly slipped in later.
 
His Chicago confidante, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, gleefully cheered on a crowd of radical activists, claiming the bill, which didn’t even include a public option in the draft at the time, will end all private insurance in America.
 
Don’t be fooled.  Democrats aren’t giving up their drive to make your private medical decisions the business of government.  Their goal is nothing less than an America where “my opponent will cut off your government-provided health care” is all you need to campaign for re-election.  They already do it to those on Medicare, which may be why those very seniors so adamantly oppose the proposed government takeover.
 
Democrats are stepping up their assaults on the majority of Americans who oppose them because they know they simply need to pass something to guarantee the eventual eradication of private health care.
 
Don’t be fooled.  They’re not giving up. Even if the so-called “public option” isn’t in the final bill, passing something gives them a government-run health care system, which they can just easily add government-run insurance to.
 
Now is the time for advocates of free-market health care to fight even harder as those pushing government control resort to nastier attacks and ugly accusations of racism.  The only way to keep the waiting lists, rationed care and crippling deficits of government-run care from becoming a reality is to defeat the entire health care bill…and the politicians pushing it.
 
With optimism,

Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian National Committee