I can't believe South Carolina's U.S. House of Representative Gresham Barrett sent a letter to a local constituent, writing of the positive aspects of H.R. 3590, Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act. I've seen it with my own eyes! After his introductory remark of "thank you for contacting me", the letter continues with -
As you know, one of the most pressing problems in health care is the large number of uninsured and underinsured Americans, 700,000 of which are located in South Carolina. I understand that you support health care reform legislation that will provide insurance coverage to all Americans.
I should note that Gresham Barrett is currently running for South Carolina Governor. His House seat is open, with republican and Democratic primaries in June. The letter follows with a long paragraph giving factual information about the health care reform bill.
Now keep in mind this is a Congressman who has co-sponsored Nutball Michelle Bachmann's bill to repeal H.R. 3590. On his website, Barrett is proud to spout:
I have cosponsored a bill to repeal this government takeover of health care and I urge all those concerned about the future of our country to contact their congressman and urge them to support it. The American people have spoken; they want this massive mistake revoked."
However, when Barrett's office sends a letter to a constituent that supports the health care bill, here's what he states:
You should be happy to know that H.R. 3590 passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law on March 23, 2010. The intent of this legislation is to provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans, and to reduce the growth in health care spending. This bill intends to provide guaranteed coverage to all individuals and employers by offering subsidies for low-income families to purchase health insurance, and establishes health insurance exchange programs for individuals to purchase insurance if not receiving it through their employer. This bill will prohibit the following: pre-existing condition exclusions, denial of coverage to anyone that applies, rescinding coverage of an enrollee except in the case of fraud or intentional misrepresentation of facts, and lifetime or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant. Furthermore, this legislation requires the establishment of minimum standards for health care coverage."
How's that for outright hypocrisy? I've written a letter to the editor for our local newspaper and here's a portion of that letter, after quoting the section above:
Barrett panders to the tea party groups with the pledge to repeal health care reform, as does Congressman Wilson and Senator DeMint. Wilson and DeMint are dishonest to their constituents with statements such as the "16,000 new IRS agents to enforce Obamacare." In debunking this falsehood, factcheck.org explains, "The IRS’ main job under the new law isn’t to enforce penalties. Its first task is to inform many small-business owners of a new tax credit that the new law grants them — starting this year — which will pay up to 35 percent of the employer’s contribution toward their workers’ health insurance."
Congressman Barrett is playing the same game (as did Congressman Wilson and Senator DeMInt), with the Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus bill). All three voted no, while on the other hand took credit for stimulus funds that South Carolina has received.
I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to slam Joe Wilson and Jim DeMint. By the way, we have great candidates running against Wilson & DeMint. For 2nd Congressional District House Representative Democratic candidate Rob Miller (who most of you already know). http://www.robmillerforcongress.com/
And for US Senate one of our Democratic candidates with political experience is former Judge Vic Rawl. http://www.vicrawl.com/...
In addition, Jane Dyer a former Air Force pilot and current union FedEx pilot is running in the Democratic primary for 3rd Congressional District House of Representatives. http://janedyerforcongress.com/