Health care

To the Editor:

(Open letter to Sen. Russ Feingold)

I would like to express my opposition to the health care reform bill currently being considered in the Senate. I believe this legislation is a truly bad idea because:

1) It will bankrupt our country. We have many examples of government fiscal incompetence -- Social Security, Medicare, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc. Why should we believe that this will be any different? It is impossible for me to believe that you really think this bill will decrease our deficits. There is a lot of deception going on here.

2) If this legislation is passed, health care will cost consumers more, not less. Increased insurance premiums and new and higher taxes will be required to pay for this.

3) Rationing of care is inevitable. The mammogram recommendations issued last week by the government gave us a preview of how this will be done. People will die because they are deemed not worthy of receiving care, or because care is not delivered in a timely manner.

4) When the government controls something as essential to a citizen's life as his health care, that citizen has lost much of his freedom.

If this health care reform legislation is so wonderful, why is Congress excluded from it? All of you who vote for and sign it should be required to be covered by it.

These past 10 months have been terrifying for those of us who want responsible, commonsense, limited government. The administration and Congress seem hell-bent on destroying our current form of government and turning us into a European-style social welfare state, and this legislation is a huge step in that direction. This has been a wake-up call for many of us regarding what the Democrat party goals really are.

Judy Gasper