Sestak’s Position on Health Care is Too Liberal for Pennsylvania
December 1st, 2009 | by BGuzzardi |
Representative Joe Sestak’s Position on Health Care is Too Liberal for Pennsylvania
To add to the Toomey Campaign’s point, how does bankrupting businesses, the tax producers, help workers find jobs? Only expanding market economy provides jobs, not government stimulus, the economy on ‘droids.
For immediate release—October 30, 2009 Toomey for Senate campaign
Allentown, P A – With each day, Rep. Joe Sestak proves that his policies are too extreme for Pennsylvania families and workers.
Just take a look at the latest government-run health care bill he is supporting. The 1,990-page bill introduced yesterday will empower bureaucrats over patients, impose new taxes, spend over a trillion dollars, cut Medicare benefits for seniors, and destroy jobs with its onerous mandates on businesses.
- The bill will cost $1.05 TRILLION dollars over ten years.
- The bill imposes 4 separate new taxes on businesses, individuals, income, and medical devices. The individual mandate will impose a 2.5% tax on income for taxpayers earning as little as $9,350. All together, the bill will impose $700 billion in new taxes.
- The bill will affect small businesses with only, on average, 17 or more employees, hammering them with new taxes.
- The bill will cut payments to Medicare and Medicaid by $426 billion.
Rep. Sestak’s support for this monstrosity is all the more extreme in light of opposition from other Democrats.
- The Blue Dog Coalition refused to embrace the bill yesterday, writing a letter to the CBO expressing concern about whether the bill will increase the deficit and increase federal spending on health care (The Hill, 10/29/09)
- In the Senate, several Democrats have opposed and raised questions about the Senate’s less extreme version, including Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche Lincoln.
- Democratic/Independent Senator Joe Lieberman has said: “If the bill remains what it is now, I will not be able to support a cloture motion before final passage” (10/27/09)
- Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu has said: “No, I’m not open to it. I’m not open to a public option” (06/09/09).
These Democrats understand that health care reform must occur in a fiscally responsible way, not at the cost of the country’s economic health.
“I admire Joe Sestak’s principled consistency, but as Pennsylvania families struggle to make ends meet, his extreme policies are the opposite of what we need,” U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey said. “There is a consensus in Pennsylvania in favor of sensible, reasonable reforms including giving individuals the same tax deductions for health insurance purchases that companies get; creating more health insurance competition by allowing insurers to compete across state lines; and medical malpractice litigation reform. These reforms would lower costs and expand access to health insurance without jeopardizing existing coverage.”
“It is clear that Joe prefers empowering government bureaucrats over individuals; top-down mandates over increased choice; ballooning deficits over fiscal responsibility; a stagnant economy over economic prosperity; and extreme liberalism over commonsense reforms. That is not the right solution for Pennsylvania or this country.”