Susan Eckerly, senior vice president of the National Federation of Independent Business issued the following statement in response to the House's passage of H.R. 3590 and H.R. 4872:
And from House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO):
"Those who chose to vote 'yes' for this bill have chosen to ignore the protests of their job-creating constituents. We couldn't have been clearer how damaging this bill will be to America's small businesses and the economic recovery of this country. America's small businesses are outraged that so many members of Congress didn't have the courage to stand up for them and vote against this job-killing healthcare bill.
"This isn't a healthcare bill, this is a tax bill wrapped up in healthcare paper. For small businesses, healthcare reform has always been about costs - reducing them. But the only thing this bill does is drive costs even higher. It will raise, not lower, insurance costs and it will increase both taxes and the cost of doing business for the very people they said they wanted to help - small business.
"Tonight's 'yes' vote against small business leaves us asking: Who is really working for small business? Make no mistake, small businesses won't forget those who voted against small business. And they will make their voices heard when they vote in November."
And from House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO):
"After more than a year of debate on the right way to improve our health care system, we have ended up with a proposal that is chock full of bad ideas, sky-high taxes, and impossible regulations and mandates. Not only will it dramatically increase the role of government in health care and trap Americans in a web of bureaucratic red tape, it is virtually guaranteed to kill jobs. This move to take control of one-sixth of our economy will stop economic growth in its tracks."
Get over it. Don't be as destructive as those blowhards that choke the airwaves on our radio frequencies and in the halls of Washington. Get over it and do something constructive. I'm sure your classes fill that bill.
So... what has been proposed that will reduce costs?
I find it amazing that people trust private for-profit corporations over our government. The organizations are immoral that are only serving their share price and quarterly performance. Just look at how out of control the lobbying has gotten. It's going to be expensive either way.
Counterpoint: http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2010-03-22-heath-care-strauss_N.htm?csp=usat.me
(not that any point at all was made in the rhetoric above)
I am amazed that anyone can still object to the badly-needed and long over-due reform. We currently spend twice as much of our GDP as other countries for what is, at best, an average system in terms of overall performance. Some performance measures rank us as having the 37th best health care in the world.
Moreover, the provision of health-care needs to be taken off the backs of business, particularly small business where it acts like a ball and chain. Small businesses simply cannot compete with big business for the best recruits when the health plan is a key factor in the candidate's decision on where to work.
Finally, a for-profit organization and saving lives cannot be reconciled. It's like trying to have wet fire. The rest of the system can stay for profit but the insurance sector needs to be replaced with a non-profit public insurance pool. No more private insurer "death panels!"