Thursday, November 05, 2009

DEBT & Current health bill, Nov 5, 2009
Honorable Congressman McDermott:


I am 70 years old, retired and on Medicare. I vote in every election and I discuss politics with my friends.

WATCH THAT DEBT.
The biggest problem in our country right now is the horrible increase in national debt. I believe that when the Chinese see the light and stop buying our worthless government bonds the current economic problems will seem very mild. The proverbial s**t will hit the fan.

My father was a doctor in China when they were experiencing hyper-inflation. He showed me a letter that required multiple sheets of stamps glued on in layers because the currency was so devalued. More recently, the country of Zimbabwe had an inflation rate of 79,600,000,000%/month in November of 2008 (Steve H. Hanke, Johns Hopkins University.) That is where we are headed, especially if you and your colleagues vote to spend so many trillions of borrowed money.

On the other hand, tax increases will never raise enough to offset the trillions of dollars in new spending. The richest people in our country have a lot of discretion about where they will live and where they will invest. The best plan is to let them make money here in the US.

HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION
I want to make you aware that your optimistic views about the house healthcare bill are not shared by me. I believe that most of the healthcare legislation being proposed in both the house and the senate
  • does not solve any of the real problems,
  • makes big increases in taxes and penalties,
  • reduces funding for my Medicare Advantage program
Please note that AARP does not speak for me! They have their own agenda and it is not for the benefit of seniors. I have a very simple plan:
  1. Tort reform to eliminate the costs for lawyers, malpractice insurance and defensive medicine. Use the savings in insurance payouts to fund insurance vouchers for the poor and uninsured. No new taxes or fees, no big government involvement.
  2. Allow insurance groups to organize like BECU. Even though this credit union is named for Boeing Employees anyone can join. My Allstate agent called today and told me they have a new employee benefit program for small companies that have at least 25 employees who each work at least 30 hours per week; unfortunately our little restaurant is too small. I do not know of any group that we can join to pool risk for employee health insurance.
  3. Remove state border limits on health insurance companies. When I shop for a credit card I am able to consider the offerings of any bank in any state. Why should health insurance companies be more restricted than credit card companies.
SUMMARY
The mood of the country has changed since President Obama took over. The change he promised was couched in elegant language that confused voters. Now we see the change that he is trying to implement. It is scary! It is not the change we want. Please get off that band wagon and join those of us who want a future for our children and our grandchildren.

If I wanted to live in a socialist country I would move to Scandinavia. If I wanted to live in a communist country I would move to China...at least they now have a capitalistic economy. I would rather live here in the US. So please try to preserve our constitution and freedoms. All that debt is a huge worry for an old geezer like me.

Steve Colberg
7th Congressional District
NE 100th St
Seattle, WA 98125