Health Care: Pelosi Rejects Republicans’
“Reach across the Aisle”

On May 13, 2009, Representative John Boehner (R-OH) and eight of his colleagues sent a letter to President Obama that began with this sentence: “We write to you today to express our sincere desire to work with you and find common ground on the issue of health care reform.” The letter outlined three principles on which the White House seemed to agree with them.

The letter was sent, but defeat came in July. House committees – Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce and Education & Labor – considering H.R. 3200, swiftly and concisely rejected the 31 amendments Republicans offered to protect, preserve and improve the world’s best medical care, retain individual freedoms to make personal medical decisions, and limit the inevitable tax increases. Also rejected were amendments protecting the sovereign rights of states and the free enterprise system for employers, individuals, physicians and the private insurance business.

Perhaps the most astonishing section of H.R. 3200 was its obvious disdain for senior citizens. Medicare funding will be drastically cut, while enrollment increases. The result will be rationed care, especially for senior citizens. In addition, every five years (for the unhealthy, every 2 ½ years) senior citizens would submit to mandatory end-of-life counseling, an example of which is, currently, forced on military personnel served by Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.

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