[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 3750]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICANS DESERVE BETTER THAN OBAMACARE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 17, 2010

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise today to respectfully 
ask that my colleagues reject Obamacare, which if enacted into law, 
will seriously undermine, erode, damage--and perhaps even destroy--
health care in America.
  On substance, the Senate-passed text of over 2,700 pages now pending 
in the House is egregiously flawed. This is truly a bad bill and is 
anything but reform.
  On process, the near total lack of transparency and misuse of 
majority party power to ram Obamacare through the Congress, makes it 
the quintessential example of what's so dreadfully wrong with 
Washington.
  No wonder growing numbers of Americans are fed up, losing faith and 
angry at the Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House.
  No wonder millions of people including Tea Party activists are 
demanding accountability and defeat of Obamacare.
  This has been--and is--an unseemly process unworthy of a national 
legislature--any legislature for that matter--especially one with an 
enviable two-century-old history of lawmaking.
  If President Obama wins passage of this bill when it comes to a vote, 
it will be a Pyrrhic victory at best.
  This is not Congress' finest hour.
  Rest assured that if Obamacare was sound and prudent policy--fiscally 
and morally--and an efficacious way of facilitating quality health care 
coverage, members of both sides of the aisle and across the ideological 
spectrum would be lining up to support it.
  If this was a good bill, persuasion, not pressure would convince a 
large majority of the members to embrace it.
  Instead, blunt force is being applied like a vice grip to 
``convince'' the unconvinced and undecided to cave, conform and 
capitulate.
  On cost, Obamacare is riddled with accounting gimmicks--all designed 
to make the total price tag appear smaller than it really is.
  In order to avoid sticker shock, Obamacare collects new taxes, fees, 
and shifts billions from Medicare for a full four years before benefits 
kick in. This trick results in an estimated, but grossly misleading 
cost of care of $871 billion over 10 years.
  Let me underscore that point, the federal government will collect 
huge amounts of new taxes, fees and will rob Medicare for a full 10 
years--before payouts for services begin four years from now.
  But when 10 years of revenue are matched with 10 years of benefits, 
the real cost comes in at a staggering $2.3 trillion.
  I would note parenthetically, that Obamacare will exacerbate 
Obamadebt. (When you eliminate double-counting of Medicare cuts, Social 
Security cuts, and the use of CLASS Act premiums, the Democrats claim 
of deficit reduction disappears into another massive wave of red ink of 
$466 billion over the first 10 years and $1.4 trillion over the second 
10 years.) Even without passage of this bill, under the President's 
2011 budget proposal, federal spending will increase to a record $3.8 
trillion in 2011 alone. By 2020, the President's own 10-year budget 
analysis projects a more than doubling of debt to a record $18.6 
trillion.
  Because Obamacare diverts $500 billion from Medicare, there is no 
doubt whatsoever that senior citizens and disabled persons will lose 
certain health benefits they now enjoy. Medicare Advantage is protected 
in Florida--the so-called Gatorade fix--but not in my state of New 
Jersey or anywhere else. Medicare Advantage is used by over 11 million 
people nationwide including 15,983 people in my Congressional district 
alone. The Senate bill slashes nearly $120 billion from Medicare 
Advantage plans, jeopardizing millions of seniors' existing coverage. 
So much for the President's promise that if you like your health plan, 
you can keep it; no you can't!
  Madam Speaker, for the first time ever, Obamacare forces Americans to 
acquire an approved health plan or pay a stiff penalty--like they 
committed a crime.
  The penalty is huge--the greater of $750 per person per year (up to 
$2,250 per family) or 2 percent of household income. No person in 
America should be coerced into buying medical insurance.
  Under Obamacare, premiums for non-group family insurance will 
increase by as much as $2,000 per year. The Congressional Budget Office 
(CBO) estimates that by 2016, premiums will increase by 10-13 percent 
over what would happen under current law. Conversely, CBO had estimated 
that the Republican plan which I strongly support would decrease some 
premiums by 5-10 percent.
  The Republican alternative focuses on lowering health care premiums 
for families and small businesses, increasing access to affordable, 
high-quality care, and promoting healthier lifestyles--without 
increasing taxes or adding to the crushing debt Washington has placed 
on our children and grandchildren and without cutting Medicare.
  Obamacare would also create nearly 160 boards, commissions and 
programs and would vest sweeping powers on bureaucrats to determine 
what benefits are covered and not and at what cost.
  Even though last September, President Obama stood a mere 20 feet away 
from where I am standing now, and told a joint session of Congress that 
``no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal 
conscience laws will remain in place,'' his legislation today 
constitutes the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade itself, 
and makes a mockery of that pledge.
  Additionally, Obamacare fails to institute real medical liability 
reforms to end junk lawsuits and curb the costs of defensive medicine--
these have long been identified as significant forces in driving up 
health costs.
  The goal of responsible health care reform should be to provide 
credible health insurance coverage for everyone, strengthening the 
health care safety net so that no one is left out, and incentivizing 
quality and innovation, as well as healthy behaviors and prevention. 
This means that the current private health insurance market will have 
to be reformed to put patients first, and to eliminate denials of pre-
existing conditions and lifetime caps and promoting portability between 
jobs and geographic areas, including across state lines. The tax code 
should be modernized to promote affordability and individual control, 
provide assistance to low-income and middle-class families. Medicare 
requires reform to be more efficient and responsive, with sustainable 
payment rates.
  Of course, responsible health care reform will respect basic 
principles of justice: it will put patients and their doctors in charge 
of medical decisions, not insurance companies or government 
bureaucrats. It will also ensure that the lives and health of all 
persons are respected regardless of stage of development, age or 
disability.
  It's time to go back to the drawing board and address what's broken 
and fix it.
  The American public deserves better than what's on the table.

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