[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 72 (Friday, June 10, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     HEALTH CARE REFORM DOUBLE TALK

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                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 10, 1994

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, as President Clinton has tried to build 
support for his health care package, he has developed confusing and 
misleading terminology to hide the radical nature of his health plan. 
In an editorial from the February 1994 issue of ``Family Practice,'' 
Dr. Edward R. Annis examined this jargon to give us a realistic view of 
the Clinton plan and its Socialist origin. I strongly urge my 
colleagues to read this alarming editorial and to support health reform 
alternatives which place power in the hands of the private sector, not 
the bureaucratic government.

                 What Is Clinton Really Talking About?

                        (By Edward R. Annis, MD)

       It is becoming increasingly difficult to interpret the 
     pronouncements of the con artists in the Clinton 
     administration. When they say investments, they really mean 
     taxes; when they say global budgets, they really mean price 
     controls; when they say alliances, they really mean new 
     bureaucracies; and when they say premiums or contributions, 
     they really mean forced payments. Their health-care 
     vocabularies include euphemisms such as crisis, universal 
     coverage and rights. This double talk is aimed at creating 
     the perception that their intentions are altruistic.
       Clinton and his henchmen, who have long tried to bring all 
     health care under government domination, have admitted that 
     the American people won't buy socialism. Therefore, to shield 
     from voters their Socialist objectives, the Clintonites 
     cleverly twist words to delude the public.
       Government officials claim that we face a crisis because 
     too many people do not have access to proper medical care. 
     The real problem is that health care is too expensive because 
     lawyers and alleged victims abuse the tort system, 
     bureaucrats burden doctors and hospitals with excessive rules 
     and regulations and the government has broken its promises to 
     adequately finance care for the elderly and the poor.
       Most medical professionals have always provided medical 
     care to those who needed it, regardless of whether they could 
     pay for it. However, when politicians use the term universal 
     coverage, they refer to an entitlement assured by government, 
     not to medical care provided by caring physicians. Secretary 
     of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala recently said her 
     department would be glad to take over the entire health-care 
     system. HHS already is trying to move in that direction, 
     increasing its authority not by legislation but by publishing 
     rules and regulations in the Federal Register.
       Robert Novak recently reported that at a bipartisan White 
     House dinner, Clinton said if Republicans would accept the 
     concept of universal coverage, everything else in his health 
     plan would be negotiable. If the president's political 
     opponents agree to such a plan, they will be giving socialism 
     a foot in the door.
       A concept gaining acceptance in this country is that 
     everyone has a right to medical care. No one has a right to 
     the knowledge, skills and services of another. If people who 
     needed food or clothing simply helped themselves, they might 
     face criminal charges.
       The proponents of socialized medicine are intentionally 
     trying to deceive the American people. Physicians should 
     alert their friends and patients to Bill and Hillary 
     Clinton's carefully crafted fabrications.

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