As most of you are probably aware the Senate Health Reform Bill cleared the House tonight on a 219-212 vote. The only thing that was bipartisan about this bill was the opposition against it. Here are some statements tonight from Iowa’s Republican Members of Congress, some of the Congressional Candidates, and party leadership.
Congressman Steve King (R-IA) representing Iowa’s 5th Congressional District:
The majority of Americans, including the tens of thousands of patriots who poured into Washington, DC this weekend, will not stand by while Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi tear the Constitution to shreds. This bill forces Americans to pay for other people’s abortions, puts the government in charge of 18 percent of our private sector economy, provides health care benefits to illegal immigrants, cuts half a trillion dollars from Medicare and diminishes our liberty.
Americans across the country are outraged that liberals have made an unconstitutional bill full of special interest bribes the law of the land. Democrats will pay a price for their overreach. This fight is far from over. Now the work begins to repeal this monstrosity and restore the principles of freedom that made America a great nation.
Congressman Tom Latham (R-IA) representing Iowa’s 4th Congressional District:
The overwhelming lesson learned from tonight’s vote is that Washington has no interest in listening to the American people. Iowans have made it clear their top health care priority is lower health insurance premiums and lower health care costs without threatening their own access to health care. Not one provision located in the thousands of pages of the Democrat bill will lower premiums or costs by a single penny. Instead this bill imposes new taxes, fees and iron-fisted federal mandates on health care providers, employers and citizens during the most uncertain economic times in a generation. Americans deserve better from their leaders in Washington.
From Matt Strawn, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa:
Instead of working for bipartisan reforms that most Iowans could support, Iowa’s congressional Democrats chose a partisan approach that amounts to a staggering, half-a-trillion dollar cost to the American taxpayer while giving the federal government an unprecedented amount of control over personal health care decisions.
The blatant disregard shown for the opinions of everyday Iowans who oppose this partisan bill is offensive enough, but it is unconscionable for Congressmen Boswell, Braley and Loebsack to force another $562 billion in debt on our children and grandchildren.
From Brad Zaun, Republican Candidate for Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District:
The same government that pays a hundred dollars for a hammer is now in charge of our health care system. In the long run, costs will rise, regulation will rise and access to health care will be delayed. This is the lesson from every country in the world that has allowed government bureaucrats to run health care. Congressman Boswell will understand the people’s dissatisfaction and outrage at the ballot box this November. The next Congress, of which I hope to be a part of, will need to return powerto patients and doctors.
From Chris Reed, Republican Candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District:
Today, common sense has been thrown to the wolves. Partisan politics and a radical agenda have hijacked the people of this country and grabbed control of a portion of our economy that is greater than the entire GDP of Great Britain.
By voting yes on this outrageous health control plan, my opponent, incumbent Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-IA), has demonstrated his contempt for the decent people of Iowa. Mr. Loebsack has vehemently stated that he cares more about himself and his party than the future generations of our country.”
As freedom-loving Americans, we inherently know it is not right to forfeit liberties and delegate unnecessary authority to a totalitarian regime. As freedom-loving Americans, we came together and in one unified voice cried out "No More". As freedom-loving Americans, we must remain diligent and continue to fight for our freedoms and liberties. I applaud all Americans who stood in the gap these past few months and demanded representation by contacting their elected officials and reminding them that ‘We the People’ are in charge.
When I am elected to Congress in November 2010, I will fight to rescind this bill, as it violates the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. I will stand with the new Governor of Iowa to ensure that all Iowans continue to be free and their unalienable rights are no longer tread upon by those in Washington D.C.
From Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican Candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District:
Dave Loebsack hasn’t yet found a spending bill he could turn down. After voting for Wall Street bailouts, a trillion dollar stimulus bill that did nothing to curb unemployment, voting to raise our national debt by two trillion dollars, and voting for a budget that spends more money than any time in our nation’s history, Dave Loebsack today voted for a trillion dollar health bill that will kill jobs, cut Medicare and raise taxes. That’s a shame and Iowa deserves better.
As a doctor and small businesswoman, I know that the only way we will achieve affordable, quality health care is by focusing on patient-centered, cost-cutting reforms such as tort reform, individual ownership of insurance plans and interstate purchasing of insurance plans. A new costly entitlement program that expands government by creating nearly 160 new bureaucracies, agencies and departments is not the way to go. Already, one of America’s largest manufacturers, Caterpillar, is saying this bill will increase its employee health care costs by 20 percent in the first year alone. Last week, 130 economists agreed this bill will kill jobs and cut wages – a terrible burden on an already struggling economy.
While Democrats claim this bill will cut the deficit by over $1 trillion, they ignore the fact that the FY-2011 budget is projected to add $1 trillion every year over the next 10 years to our national debt. Their health reform cost estimate also leaves out a critical $371 billion fix to protect hospitals and health care providers from seeing a significant cut in Medicare reimbursement rates. Although this reimbursement fix was in the original House bill, and Speaker Pelosi has said they will pass it later this year, it has been removed temporarily to masquerade the true cost of the Democrats health bill. Add that onto the number of special deals for specific swing-state Democrats to sweeten the bill, and you have a corrupt process jamming through a bill America doesn’t want.
As eastern Iowa’s next member of Congress, I would always fight for taxpayers, families and seniors and put an end to the reckless taxing, spending and borrowing that liberal Dave Loebsack has supported and that’s putting America on a dangerous fiscal path towards bankruptcy in the years to come.
