Libertarian Party Opposes Health Care Plan

A recent media release from the Libertarian Party:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2010 Contact: Wes Benedict, Executive Director E-mail: wes.benedict@lp.org Phone: 202-333-0008 ext. 222 Libertarian Party opposes health care plan WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party adamantly opposes the health care bill passed on Christmas Eve by the US Senate that is currently being considered in the US House of Representatives. The Libertarian Party calls on the US House to vote down this disastrous plan, and instead to pass laws reducing federal involvement in health care. Libertarian Party Chairman William Redpath commented, "We oppose this horrible federal government expansion into health care, just as we have consistently opposed all the increased government intrusion into health care proposed by Republicans and Democrats over the years. For example, we vocally opposed the huge Medicare expansion pushed through Congress by Republicans in 2003." Redpath continued, "It is a virtual certainty that the cost estimates of this legislation are drastically understated. When Medicare Part A started in 1965, the projected cost for 1990 was $9 billion. It turned out to be $67 billion. Should this bill become law, when the debt of the United States government is downgraded by ratings agencies shortly thereafter, it will not be a coincidence. That will increase interest rates, and the entire economy will suffer." The Libertarian Party Platform says the following about health care: "We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want, the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions." The words "health care" and "medicine" are not found anywhere in the Constitution. Accordingly, the Libertarian Party asserts that Congress has no authority to regulate or appropriate money for health care. (The Libertarian Party has consistently argued for decades that the "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" clauses are not generic authorizations for spending and regulation.) Redpath concluded, "This is a top-down, Washington-mandated control of health insurance and health care in this nation. It is the antithesis of consumer-driven health care, which is what will ultimately be necessary to control health care costs and to provide the best health care for the greatest number of people." For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222. The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website. ###

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LP Monday Message: Stop Subsidizing Health Care! | Libertarian Party

Ready for Obama's Healthcare Rationing?

I received this today as the Monday Message from the Libertarian Party. I thought I would share it with those that don't receive the communication. It is written by Donny Ferguson, Director of Communications for the Libertarian Party. It is also, obviously, an attempt to raise funds for the Libertarian Party. I'm fine with that. Support is necessary to help this party gain more recognition and to build membership. I'm doing some of my part by sharing the message.

Dear friend,

Have a sick child?  Then you’d better get used to putting her on a government waiting list.

That’s because while Barack Obama is trying to sell his proposed federal takeover of the entire health care system with promises of lower costs and more choices, it’s about as honest a pitch as that ad in the back of comic books for x-ray glasses.

The truth is his scheme outlaws private insurance (page 16 of the 1,018 page draft bill,) sends government employees to your home to monitor your parenting (page 838) and forces the sick and elderly to submit to “end of life counseling” (page 425.)  

On page 167, and elsewhere throughout the draft, it also calls for compulsory “shared responsibility payments,” clearly defined as a “tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage.”  The government would confiscate thousands of dollars from your paycheck if they don’t like your choice of coverage.  In other words, you have no choice.

And those are just a few of the atrocious provisions of the draft bill.  The Congressional Budget Office has found the plan is economically unsustainable. Since “free” care leads to people using the system every time they get the sniffles, it cannot work unless you are put on a miles-long waiting list or get approval from the government to meet your doctor.  

That’s commonly called “rationing.”

As more and more information leaks out, Obama’s approval ratings are plummeting.  His “strong approval” rating has plunged to a paltry 29 percent.  His “strong disapproval” rating has ballooned to 40 percent.  A majority of Americans oppose his health care plan.

But Obama will not be deterred by such facts.  Why?

Just look at the mail senior citizens get right before an election.  With many dependent on the socialized Medicare system for treatment, Democrats use their very lives as campaign fodder.  

Every election year, senior citizens are inundated with mail, phone calls and personal visits from Democrat campaign personnel warning them if they don’t show up on Election Day and vote Democrat, the other side will cut off their access to health care and – literally – leave them to die.  Terrified because government controls their access to care, most show up to cast their votes for the Democrat…any Democrat!

Obama would love to extend that campaign ploy to all Americans.  His goal is a nation where Democrats can make people vote for them simply because Democrats hold their access to medical care in their iron grip, as they already cruelly do to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

That’s why your Libertarian Party is leading the charge against the Obama health care takeover.  We’ve launched an aggressive media campaign to inform millions of Americans of this expensive, ineffective and ultimately dangerous scheme to force an entire nation onto rationed welfare care.

It’s working.  The Kansas City Star admitted the LP is helping defeat Obama in way that can “cling tightly to its principle and still fit comfortably in the political mainstream.

"That's why our job is hard," wailed a Democrat pollster. "It's always easier to use words to defeat something."  For the record, our “words” were nothing more than the facts about the Obama plan.

Even Rush Limbaugh is now reading from Libertarian Party press releases on the air.  Dr. Richard Kerr, a West Virginia Libertarian Party member and retired 36-year doctor is publicly asking Obama to apologize to doctors after the president publicly accused them in his press conference last week of deliberately giving the wrong treatments to sick children to make more money.

No matter what you think of Limbaugh, his 22 million listeners are politically active -- and many are independents and libertarians.  They’re looking for someone, anyone, to fight back.  It’s not like the Republicans, with their profligate spending and Bush Medicare prescription drug entitlement, are much of an alternative.

That kind of media campaign is why we’ve seen a spike in candidate inquiries and e-mailed questions from interested independents, libertarians and former Republicans this week.

We’ve also made it abundantly clear we will hold supporters of the Obama plan accountable the only place it counts – at the ballot box.  Libertarian candidates will campaign on their support of proven free-market reforms to make health care affordable and accessible.  And they will hold their opponents’ feet to the fire for supporting a radical government takeover that bloats costs, degrades the quality of care and leads to waiting lists and rationing.

As it stands right now, the Obama plan will probably pass in Congress.  But you can do something to change it.

Will you join the Libertarian Party’s growing citizen army against the Obama health care takeover?

If you’re not already a Sustaining Member, please click here to join The Party of Principle.  You’ll be a part of the nation’s only small government party, and one that is growing in effectiveness.

If you’re already a Sustaining Member, thank you!  I hope you’ll consider becoming a Monthly Pledger.  Just click here to donate as little as $10 each month, or make a one-time gift.  Monthly Pledgers are vitally important to a strong and growing LP.

Opposition to the Obama health care takeover is growing, and as major media outlets and even Rush Limbaugh note, the Libertarian Party is leading the charge.

I hope you’ll join us in fighting for better health care and a free country.

With optimism,

Donny Ferguson
Director of Communications
Libertarian Party
Donny.Ferguson@lp.org