Burr, Fellow Republicans Introduce Patients' Choice Act

An Alternative to Obamacare

By Tom Coburn, Richard Burr, Paul Ryan & David Nunes
RealClearPolitics
May 20, 2009

While President Obama may believe the stars are aligned for major health reform this year it is far from certain whether Congress will pass a bill that works. The groups that are most likely to unravel this effort are not the president's opponents, but his allies. Nothing will rally ordinary Americans against the president's plan more than his allies arguing too forcefully for a system run by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington - what we call the "public option" in the Obama plan.

It should come as no surprise that this ideologically rigid position is coming under fire. As the Washington Post recently wrote, "the fixation on a public plan is bizarre and counterproductive ... It is entirely possible to imagine effective health-care reform - changes that would expand coverage and help control costs - without a public option."

We agree. We have introduced a comprehensive health care reform bill, the Patients' Choice Act that, we believe, will bring us far closer to the goal of universal coverage than the Obama plan. Our bill, in specific legislative language, does the following:

Puts affordable coverage and choice within reach of all Americans. We do this by first ending the discrimination in the tax code that rewards corporations and employers for offering insurance yet offers no benefit to the unemployed and is unfair to the self-employed. Our current tax laws are a relic of the 1940's when Americans stayed in the same job far longer than they do today. It's time for a reboot.

Specifically, we would shift health care tax benefits to individuals and families in the form of a "Medi-Choice" tax rebate worth about $2,200 for individuals and $5,700 for families. Under our plan, if you like the health care you have, you can keep it - but you'll have more money in your pocket because you will still receive a tax rebate. ...

Prevents cherry picking by guaranteeing access to coverage. Even though we're confident that less government interference and more individual choice will control costs and improve quality and access, we recognize that markets can't solve all problems. That's why our bill prevents cherry picking - when insurance companies choose to cover only healthy patients - by equalizing risk across insurance companies and reversing the perverse incentives that leave those most vulnerable with the fewest options. ...

Strengthens the health care safety net. Currently, about 40 percent of doctors and hospitals do not accept Medicaid patients because payments are so low. This means that needy moms and kids may have health coverage, but poor access to health care. We remove the stigma from Medicaid recipients and give them the ability to purchase the health coverage and care they need from any provider. We preserve Medicaid for the blind, aged, and disabled and we eliminate widespread fraud in the programs. We do all this and still save states and the federal government about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

Finally, our bill accomplishes these goals without spending any new federal money, or raising taxes. If this sounds too good to be true, we would note that the problem in health care is not that we don't spend enough, but that Americans aren't getting enough value for their dollars. On a per capita basis, America spends nearly twice what other industrialized nations spend on health care yet we are hardly twice as healthy. ...

The Obama plan promises change and progress, but it is based on old ideas. For the past 50 years, the Left has promised that a little more government intervention and spending will fix health care. If Washington can effectively run a health program like Obama's public option, why are Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs in such disrepair? ...

The American people deserve better. Congress should be looking to 2040, not 1940 or 1965. We can achieve universal access to quality, affordable health care without bankrupting our children with trillions more in debt or imposing draconian tax hikes on all Americans. It can be done, and the Patients' Choice Act shows us how.

Click here to read the full article...

Myrick Votes Against Budget Conference Report

Press Release
April 29, 2009

(Washington, DC) – US Representative Sue Myrick (NC-09) has released the following statement on today’s vote on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget conference report:

“I voted against this budget for the same reason I voted against it the first time. It’s still based on out-of-control spending, tax increases to pay for it, and debt that our kids and grandkids will be responsible for paying back for years to come.”

Jones Votes "No" on Big Spending Budget

Democrats’ budget would nearly triple the national debt over the next 10 years.

Press Release
April 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) voted against the conference report for S. Con. Res. 13, a bill setting the congressional budget for the U.S. government for fiscal year 2010 and the budgetary levels for fiscal years 2011 through 2014. The more than $3.55 trillion budget passed the House by a party-line vote of 233 to 193 and is expected to be signed into law by the President.

Congressman Jones’ statement on the Democrats’ budget follows below:

“During difficult times, American families and small businesses make sacrifices and do what they can to tighten their belts and reign in spending. Most people expect the federal government to do the same. Sadly, Washington has chosen to go on a spending spree and ignore the pressing demand for fiscal discipline. Rather than scale back wasteful spending, this budget resolution is projected to nearly triple the national debt over the next 10 years.”

“The spending in this budget resolution calls for a $1.23 trillion deficit for 2010, which will lead to unprecedented borrowing from China, the Middle East, and other foreign countries that own our ballooning debt. Problems that have been caused by too much spending and too much debt simply can’t be solved by more government spending and more federal debt. The fact that April 26^th was already “Debt Day” – the day in the fiscal year when federal spending surpasses revenues – obviously hasn’t registered in Washington. This Congress needs to wake up and realize its moral obligation to avoid passing on a mountain of debt to America’s future generations.”

“While our nation continues to suffer amid a faltering economy, this budget includes $1.5 trillion in tax increases over the next 10 years. It not only imposes new taxes on corporate businesses but raises income taxes, harming the most successful small businesses that pay taxes at the top two individual rates. This budget also includes a new national energy tax that will cost every American household. Hiking taxes during an economic downturn will only hurt small businesses and slow job creation.”

“With its fast-track ‘reconciliation’ procedure to push through sweeping policy changes like government run-health care and its expansion of the federal government through huge increases in spending, taxes, and deficits, this budget resolution will plunge our nation further into debt and keep us from getting back on the right economic track.”

Obama Administration Under Fire for Paltry Cuts

AP, Tapper Confront Obama Admin Over $100 Million

Link:

McHenry: Obama Budget Savings = 0.002%

Encouraged by step in the right direction

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s call for $100 million in administration budget cuts. These savings would amount to a reduction of 0.002% in the federal budget.

“I am encouraged that President Obama has finally recognized the need for fiscal discipline. The first three months of his administration have been defined by boundless government spending. In doing so, the President broke his often-repeated campaign promise to go 'line by line' to identify savings in the federal budget. Although these cuts are too miniscule to be considered anything more than symbolic, at least it’s a step in the right direction. In fact, we could have saved three times that much by not buying a new fleet of cars for government employees in the so-called stimulus bill. As the national debt continues to spiral out of control, I hope President Obama will work in a bipartisan way to reform the careless way in which Washington spends tax dollars.”

Is This Guy Serious?

I'm all for working class Americans paying less in taxes, although I certainly wish it was coupled with reductions in spending at the federal level. That being said, the amount of self-congratulatory back patting going on at the yesterday's press conference with the President was beyond the pale.

In the video below, the President claims his tax relief plan has allowed families to buy their first homes, send children to college, invest in retirement plans, and start new businesses. He also claims to have lifted 2 million Americans out of poverty presumably with the approximate $600 a year in relief of the tax burden for most American workers.

Mr. President, we're talking about $13 a week. That's about the cost of two Starbucks trips per week. It's a little more than one tank of gas per month in tax savings.

Who are you kidding?

Myrick: "We Have to Stop Living on Borrowed Money."

On April 4, Rep. Myrick participated in the Carolina Taxpayer Tea Party in Uptown Charlotte. Joined by hundreds of taxpayers from North and South Carolina, she said that the government must stop running on borrowed money and get spending under control. Click here for the full story.

Last week, Rep. Myrick voted for fiscal responsibility by voting for the Republican Budget Alternative for FY 2010. "How is increasing taxes by $1.5 trillion over ten years, increasing discretionary spending by 8.6 percent, and bringing our total national debt to $17.1 trillion considered a responsible thing to do in this economy?" Rep. Myrick said in a statement. "I voted for a Republican Budget Alternative that controls spending, decreases taxes for families and small businesses, and stops putting trillions of dollars in debt on the shoulders of our children and grandchildren."

The Better Budget

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) writes in this morning's Wall Street Journal of the GOP's alternative budget and its benefits for American taxpayers and families of all income levels. Republicans plan to push forward an alternative budget in Congress which will not exponentially increase debt, will provide solutions to the pressing problems of energy, health care, entitlements, and the tax code, and will lead to stronger job creation than what is offered under the President's plan.

The GOP's Alternative Budget

By Paul D. Ryan
Wall Street Journal

...Here's an outline of what we propose:

- Deficits/Debt. The Republican budget achieves lower deficits than the Democratic plan in every year, and by 2019 yields half the deficit proposed by the president. By doing so, we control government debt: Under our plan, debt held by the public is $3.6 trillion less during the budget period.

- Spending. Our budget gives priority to national defense and veterans' health care. We freeze all other discretionary spending for five years, allowing it to grow modestly after that. We also place all spending under a statutory spending cap backed up by tough budget enforcement.

- Energy. Our budget lays a firm foundation to position the U.S. to meet three important strategic energy goals: reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, deploying more clean and renewable energy sources free of greenhouse gas, and supporting economic growth. We do these things by rejecting the president's cap-and-trade scheme, by opening exploration on our nation's oil and gas fields, and by investing the proceeds in a new clean energy trust fund, infrastructure and further deficit reduction.

- Entitlements. Our budget also takes steps toward fulfilling the mission of health and retirement security, in part by making these programs fiscally sustainable. The budget moves toward making quality health care affordable and accessible to all Americans by strengthening the relationship between patients and their doctors, not the dictates of government bureaucrats. We preserve the existing Medicare program for all those 55 or older; and then, to make the program sustainable and dependable, those 54 and younger will enter a Medicare program reformed to work like the health plan members of Congress and federal employees now enjoy. Starting in 2021, seniors would receive a premium support payment equal to 100% of the Medicare benefit on average. This would be income related, so low-income seniors receive extra support, and high-income seniors receive support relative to their incomes -- along the same lines as the president's Medicare Part D proposal.

We strengthen the Medicaid safety net by converting the federal share of Medicaid payments into an allotment tailored for each state's low-income population. This will enhance state flexibility and sensitivity to spending growth.

In one of the most valued government programs -- Social Security -- our budget begins to develop a bipartisan solution to the program's pending bankruptcy by incorporating some of the reforms advocated by the president's budget director. Specifically, we provide for a trigger that would make small adjustments in the benefits for higher-income beneficiaries if the Social Security Administration determines the Social Security Trust Fund cannot meet its obligations. This is a modest but serious proposal which would not affect those in or near retirement, but is aimed at helping develop a consensus, across party lines, toward saving this important retirement program. We also assure that benefits for lower-income recipients are large enough to keep them out of poverty.

- Tax Reform. Our budget does not raise taxes, and makes permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax laws. In fact, we cut taxes and reform the tax system. Individuals can choose to pay their federal taxes under the existing code, or move to a highly simplified system that fits on a post card, with few deductions and two rates. Specifically, couples pay 10% on their first $100,000 in income (singles on $50,000) and 25% above that. Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%, and the death tax is repealed. The proposal includes generous standard and personal exemptions such that a family of four earning $39,000 would not pay tax on that amount. In an effort to revive peoples' lost savings, and to create an incentive for risk-taking and investment, the budget repeals the capital gains tax through 2010 for all taxpayers.

On the business side, the budget permanently cuts the uncompetitive corporate income tax rate -- currently the second highest in the industrialized world -- to 25%. This puts American companies in a better position to lead in the global economy, promotes jobs here at home, and strengthens worker paychecks.

We hope the administration and Democratic leaders in Congress do not distort and preach fear about our Republican plan. Some may be tempted to appeal to the darker emotions of envy and insecurity that surely run high in times like these. Yet we know Americans are stronger, smarter and prouder than this ploy assumes.

In the recent past, the Republican Party failed to offer the nation an inspiring vision and a concrete plan to tackle our problems with innovative and principled solutions. We do not intend to repeat that mistake. America is not the greatest nation on earth by chance. We earned this greatness by rewarding individual achievement, by advancing and protecting natural rights, and by embracing freedom. We intend to continue this uniquely American tradition.

Mr. Ryan, from Wisconsin, is the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee.