Congresswoman Sue Myrick gave the Republican response on radio on Saturday, September 19, 2009, to President Obama's talk about HCR. Once again, They Just Don't Get It.
(see below)
Full transcript is below, my comments follow:
Hi, I’m Congresswoman Sue Myrick from North Carolina’s Ninth District.
Nine years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I knew something was wrong with my body – but it took six doctors, three mammograms and one ultrasound before they finally they found my cancer. This process took only a few weeks.
Under the government-run healthcare system they have in Canada and the United Kingdom, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get those tests so quickly. One international study found that three times as many citizens in those countries wait longer than a month to see a specialist. When it comes to life-threatening diseases like cancer, delay could mean death.
Every family that confronts a serious illness should have access to the highest-quality care at the lowest possible cost – with no delays.
Replacing your current healthcare with a government-run system is not the answer.
These so-called healthcare reform bills have different names: a public option, a co-op, a trigger. Make no mistake, these are all gateways to government-run healthcare.
For small business owners, these proposals mean higher taxes at a time when unemployment is nearing 10% and analysts are predicting that any kind of recovery will be a jobless one.
As a former small-business owner, I can tell you from experience, that this is the worst possible time to be imposing new, job-killing taxes. In fact, the nation’s largest small business association found the health care tax increases being proposed would lead to the elimination of more than 1.6 million jobs.
And for seniors, expect massive cuts to Medicare; which is unacceptable under any circumstances. Doing this now, without implementing significant reforms to make the program more efficient, would leave seniors susceptible to the rationing of care.
All of this comes at a price tag of roughly $1 trillion in the midst of a year in which the government continues to set new records for red ink.
It’s time we heed the American people’s frustrations with the increased spending and big government growth going on in Washington. There is another way to reform healthcare – and options we can agree on to move forward. Please go to healthcare.gop.gov to learn more. I’m Congresswoman Sue Myrick. Thank you for listening.
What she doesn't seem to get, or perhaps is just constructing a straw man argument, is that what is wanted has nothing to do with Canada or the UK, and even if such restrictions are applied there they don't necessarily apply to Obama's plan. In Canada all health care forms have to be printed in English and French, but we don't have to slavishly adopt their details.
Congresswoman Myrick was able to get three mammograms, etc., because she has a plan that will pay for such testing. Jane Sixpack doesn't have access to such a plan. Jane deserves to have access to such a plan. She is just as good a citizen as Congresswoman Myrick. So give her one already.