My area's increasingly out of touch Taliban representative, Pete Sessions (TX-32), once again showed that he has no clue about the sentiments of the American people when it comes to healthcare reform.
Sessions, who claimed that healthcare reform was rejected by the American people after President Obama spoke about it before a joint session of Congress, showed once again that he'd rather protect the interests of large insurance companies instead of average folks like me with his latest comments about the House's version of the legislation.
More below.
In his latest remarks on healthcare reform, Sessions showed no concern about facts when, despite poll after poll that shows widespread support for healthcare reform with a robust public option, he made the following comment on his taxpayer-supported web site:
"Today, House Democrats have announced that the voice of the American people doesn’t matter. Despite undeniable opposition from the American people, the Democrat Majority behind closed doors has written a government-run health care scheme that will increase health care costs, drive our nation deeper into debt, and raise taxes at a time when small businesses and families can least afford it.
"Instead of empowering people to control their own health care destiny, Democrat leaders in Congress are speeding to advance a radical political agenda of government control over personal decision-making. The result of this government takeover will be fewer options for seniors, reduced access to quality care, and interference in the doctor/patient relationship.
"The American people deserve much better. Republicans in Congress will stand with the American people, holding the Democrat Majority accountable for their reckless policies and offering real solutions for our nation’s health care challenges."
Sessions couldn't have been more dishonest even if he tried. The public option the Democratic proposal (Pete, the party is called the Democratic, not Democrat, party) provides citizens with a choice of having either a public option or a private plan. It's a model that has worked well in Texas college education (in case Sessions didn't know, Dallas-Fort Worth private schools like Southern Methodist and Texas Christian universities have done well despite nearby public colleges like the University of North Texas and two University of Texas campuses-- in Arlington and Dallas), so where does Sessions get the claptrap that the public option in healthcare will bring total domination of the public sector UNLIKE what has happenened in fields like college education?
And what about this radical control of "personal decision-making" by government? In his statement, Sessions left out the fact that there is already control of personal decision making in our healthcare system-- by private insurers who regularly deny coverage to folks due to pre-existing conditions or the mere occurence of illness (Has Sessions ever considered how insurance companies have used the power of rescission to deny coverage to folks?).
What real solutions has Sessions and his Republican friends offered, besides keeping our current bankrupt health system intact with no changes? This latest Sessions statement sure makes me wonder.
We need a congressman who stands for average folks like me, not insurance companies. We need someone who really knows how the American people feel about healthcare reform, something Sessions seemingly doesn't understand.
I sure hope we get someone who isn't afraid to speak his mind and call spades spades to oppose this misinformation machine called Pete Sessions. I sure hope there is someone like Alan Grayson in our district who can speak the truth and put Pete Sessions on the defensive and force him out of office next year.