Rep. John Campbell (CA) isn't done pointing out what's wrong with the Pelosi health care bill. Even though the bill narrowly passed the House last weekend, there's more to say about it. Read an excerpt of Campbell's op/ed today in the Orange County Register:
This legislation is horrible. I, along with most Republicans, support health care reform, but not at the expense of what is widely regarded as the best health care system in the world, and certainly not at the expense of a majority of Americans, who like the care they currently have.
This bill is 2,032 pages of a pure and unadulterated government takeover of health care. The total package would cost $1.3 trillion more than what we are spending now and would increase taxes by nearly $800 billion. These taxes wouldn't be limited to the wealthy; it would extend taxes on everything from wheelchairs and hospital gowns to artificial organs.
This bill wasn't, and still isn't, about reform, it is about forcing Americans to submit to the will of the government. It uses the word "shall" 3,425 times, which means that at least 3,425 times it compels an individual to do or not to do something. Yet it conveniently leaves out members of Congress. So, while the representatives who voted in favor of this bill believe it is good and want to impose it onto the rest of the American population, they are not willing to have their health care governed by the same system. This should tell you something about what is in this bill.
Speaker Pelosi's health care bill creates 118 new programs, boards, commissions, and bureaucracies. One glaring example is the creation of the office of a "Health Choices Commissioner." This commissioner is tasked with determining the "essential benefits" that all insurers will be required to offer. If you fail to purchase "approved" insurance, you will be subject to a fine in the form of a 2.5 percent tax on your gross income. If you fail to pay the fine, then you will have committed a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 – all of this is included in a bill supposedly designed to improve our health care.