A Boy Scout’s Viewpoint on Abortion

I am publishing the following letter from a Boy Scout friend of mine that was written to Colorado Senator Udall. I am particularly proud of this post, because I am an Eagle Scout, myself. I hope you enjoy this letter:
I am Joel Meyer. I am a 14-year-old boy in Boy Scout Troop 231 of Arvada, Colorado. I am writing this letter for my “Citizenship in the Nation” merit badge. I would like to speak out on my opinion about abortion. I believe that as an American I should be able to speak out against abortion. As a Catholic, I believe that once conceived, a baby is a living human being. With this idea in mind, the real definition of abortion is the same as homicide. I understand the view that rape victims should be able to have an abortion because of the trauma caused by it. This does not make abortion right, either. Instead of killing the baby, it should be given up for adoption. Every life should have a chance to be a part of this world. Another concern is research that requires the killing of embryos. In March 2009, President Obama issued an executive order that opened the door to federal funding of research that requires the killing of human embryos, reversing President Bush’s 2001 order that blocked federal funding of embryo-killing research. “The pro-abortion movement sees federal ‘health care reform’ legislation as a golden opportunity to force-feed abortion into every nook and cranny of the health-care delivery system.” “They hope to use the structure of a federal health-care law to make abortion on demand accessible in every region of every state, paid for by taxes and government-mandated private insurance premiums.” I believe that abortion should be discouraged as much as possible. Thank you for listening to what I have to say and representing the views of our state. Please send a response if possible and let me know what you can do about my concern.
Sincerely, Joel Meyer

Summary of What is needed in Health Care Bill

With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people’s money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.
While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:
• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
• Equalize the tax laws so that that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits.
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover.
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost.
• Enact Medicare reform.
• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Health Care plan will allow federal dollars to pay for abortions!

Non-partisan entities like the Associated Press, FactCheck.org, and Time have confirmed that ObamaCare will allow all abortions to be covered by the public plan and by federally-subsidized private plans. The government will collect the necessarily-higher premiums (which we will be required to pay), receive bills from abortionists, and then send the abortionists payment checks from a federal treasury account.

"Triggers," the latest twist in ObamaCare

In order to get ObamaCare enacted, Democrats are now proposing a “trigger” to create a single payer option if private insurers fail to pass specific benchmarks in the economy of health care. Democrat bureaucrats will specify those benchmarks; and they will very probably be impossible for private insurers to meet. So…this is just another ploy to get a single payer system in place for our health care.
Every version of ObamaCare being considered will turn private insurers into subsidiaries of Congress. H.R. 3200 would appoint a “health choices commissioner,” who will have the final say about premiums, deductibles, and copays. That commissioner will, no doubt, have the final say so about rationing of health care dollars, too.

Health insurance cooperative?

The recently touted discontinuation of the “public option,” and its replacement by federally chartered insurance cooperatives is only a way of replacing the “public option” with another federal government grab by controlling money flow through a new agency placed between the federal government and the private insurers. The feds will still control the money under this kind of arrangement by setting up an insurance Fannie Mae system of money control.

Economics of the Proposed Health Care Bill

A single payer, government-run, reimbursement system would be a reenactment of Medicare for all Americans. It would drive all the private insurance companies out of business because it would be able to sell insurance using the mandate-creating tool of collective bargaining where the government would be the only bidder—that is not something that would increase competition, as the President has said he wants. Furthermore, it would increase total costs as the Congressional Budget Office predicts. This would happen because if the government is supplying free or low-cost health care services, everyone will want some of it; and utilization will necessarily increase. (The CBO estimates that H.R. 3200 would cause a net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion during the 10 year period of 2010-2019.)

Economical Federal Financing--an Oxymoron

President Obama insists that the new health care proposals will not cost the government or the people any more money; he even says it will save money—not likely. If this program is anything like Medicare, which is very probable, it will follow a financial trajectory similar to Medicare. Let’s look at that: Medicare was created about 40 years ago. At that time it cost $7 billion, which was 4% of the federal budget. In 2008, the program cost $455 billion and comprised 15% of the federal budget. (Potetz and Cubanski, Kaiser Family Foundation July 2009)
The lesson is simply that the Federal Government does not know how to run an economical health care system. I think the American people should not believe the President when he talks about an “economical Federal option.”