I am opposed to the House-passed Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962. This bill — all 1,990 pages — was passed by the House with a 220-215 margin Saturday night. I am providing a Web link for those who have the time and are inclined to read at http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

Most of the members in Congress have not read this bill, but yet they voted on this legislation. There were 219 Democrats and one Republican, Joe Cao, R-La., who voted in favor of the bill and 176 Republicans and 39 Democrats who voted against it.

This bill is being presented to the American people as bipartisan since one lone Republican who resides in a Democratic congressional district voted in favor. We all know the bill was not given the required and necessary hearings, and the Republicans were completely shut out of the process.

The Republican National Committee released a statement after the vote. “Today with help from their liberal House allies, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi finally got what they have been creating behind closed doors these past months — a government-run health care experiment that will increase families’ health care costs, increase the deficit, increase taxes on small businesses and the middle class, and cut Medicare.”

In order to garner votes necessary to pass H.R.3962, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi worked out a deal with those in her party who objected to the abortion portion of this bill. Earlier, the House passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option and in the insurance “exchange” the bill would create. The vote of approval was 240-194.

A second amendment considered by the House, introduced by Minority Leader John Boehner, which would have substituted several sections of the health care bill dealing with insurance, did not pass. Legislators voted against the amendment 258-176.

The original Social Security Act was signed into law on Aug. 14, 1935, by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was 66 pages in length. This program has now morphed into a government-run program that is, by dollars paid, the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget with 20.8 percent for Social Security, compared to 20.5 percent for discretionary defense and 20.1 percent for Medicare/Medicaid.

After the stimulus bills, and the implementation of TARP, the government controls or directly oversees about 30 percent of our economy. With health care, it will gain another 18 percent.

I am of the opinion the U.S. Congress should take a civics lesson and retrace the history of what has made the United States the greatest country in the world. The people we elect are required to represent their constituents to the government, not represent the government to their constituents.

I find it interesting that we have not had a large mass of protesters march on Washington in favor of the health care bill. All of the mass protesters have been against this health care bill and they have been portrayed by Pelosi as extremists and not representative of the mainstream voters. I would suggest that the framers of our Constitution were thought to be not part of the mainstream in 1776. Our founding fathers were our political leaders who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and took part in the American Revolution in winning American independence from Great Britain. Here we are now 233 years later a nation passing legislation to make our citizens dependent upon the government.

— Ben Kinlaw, Barnwell

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