BluntPolitics.com

Folks,

The left wing of the democrat party is on the attack. Obama certainly falls into this category even though he ran in the middle. Last week in his several conferences, President Obama mentioned that doctors were theives by just giving people tests to protect their backsides! Next he spoke about the insurance carriers and how they “ration” care by getting in the way of you and the doctor etc. When I was in Canada on the drive last week with some agent friends I said that you will see the democrats now attempting to demonize the insurance carriers and then agents. Today Nancy Pelosi attacked the carriers outright saying the carrier control of health care was almost immoral. Well guess you are next since you deliver insurance policies thus are you immoral? I hope you are offended and call your Representative and complain about this treatment.

They are desperate folks and the new tobacco is the rich (defined as those who create jobs), insurance carriers and then the agent!

We called our Representatives and asked them to stop by our office and “meet the folks they are going to put out of business” and they did! You can do the same. If you don’t call, write, get involved and let others carry the fight you deserve to lose your job, career and retirement if the “left wing” gets their way of having a government run program.

This fight goes deeper than control of health care. The left wing believes in fairness for all. The problem is that in America where we have individual choices over our destiny (Judge Sotomayer proves this) fairness is impossible unless you force everyone into a government run program. Then fairness can be achieved however, the loss is our freedoms. Freedom of choice, freedom to choose the doctor, freedom to go to the doctor without rationing and others telling me what they will pay for! If you read the book 1776 you will clearly see that this country rebelled from government control in the lives of people because it translates into limiting choices. This fight is about freedom and individual choice versus fairness. Fairness is like persuing the elusive happiness because happiness is usually defined by those who are in control and so is fairness.

Speak up

By Doug Patton
July 20, 2009

I have a confession to make. I was wrong about our president. He has been telling us that he is a uniter, not a divider, and I doubted him. I thought he would divide this country like no one who has ever held the office. Well, I was wrong, and I want to publicly apologize.

I thought Mr. Obama’s call for a cap and trade policy to combat “global warming,” with its provisions for tax increases and higher energy prices, would surely drive a wedge between us, but I was wrong.

I was sure that President Obama’s push for “the Employee Free Choice Act,” which opponents now have dubbed “the Employee Forced Choice Act,” would segregate labor against management like nothing we have seen in a generation, but I was wrong.

I could not imagine that the president’s insistence on a government-controlled universal health care scheme would not divide us one from another over an issue that is so crucial to our future, but I was wrong.

I predicted that what I perceived as cowardice in our president’s foreign policy would split this nation down the middle and create an intolerable divide between Americans, but I was wrong.

I was convinced that Barack Obama’s extreme views on the sanctity of human life would cause a tear in the fabric of society like no other issue since the Civil War, but I was wrong.

I had little doubt that what I saw as Obama’s hostility to the Second Amendment would create tremendous division over the issue, but I was wrong.

I just knew that this president’s penchant for “redistributing wealth” would cause a separation between rich, middle class and poor, but again, I was wrong.

And finally, I had always believed that when this president nominated judges who shared his radical philosophy of government, those nominations would divide the country.

Was I ever wrong! About all of it.

Barack Obama, just seven months into his only term as president, is beginning to bring this country together like no one since Jimmy Carter, the most incompetent president of the 20th Century.

People frown at the idea of raising taxes and energy costs in the middle of a recession with double-digit unemployment. Far from dividing Americans, Obama has created a rallying point on an issue all of us can understand.

On big labor, our fellow citizens could hardly be more united. When properly explained (a practice Obama detests, as evidenced by the fact that he insists Congress rush through legislation without even reading it), the American people hate the idea of depriving workers of their right to secret ballots in determining whether they become part of a union.

On issues of race, foreign policy, traditional marriage, the sanctity of innocent human life, the Second Amendment, property rights and so much more, poll after poll now shows that Barack Obama is uniting the American people against his radical, anti-American agenda.

But perhaps the area where this president is doing the best job of bringing people together is on the issue of universal health care. Americans instinctively know their country is not Europe, and they have no desire to become France. They understand that somehow someone is going to have to pay for all this “free” health care Obama keeps promising. They know that Obama-Care, like Hillary-Care before it, will do less, cost more and provide fewer choices. They grasp the idea that you cannot serve more people with fewer doctors and provide better care for less money. And they know that trying to jam all this through Congress in two weeks is the last refuge of a panicked administration losing its mesmerizing grip on the people.

So, thank you, Mr. President, for bringing us together. I never believed you could do it and certainly not this soon. In less than a year and a half, you can unite us in a mid-term repudiation of your policies, and in three years and five months you can unite us all behind whomever your successor will be.

—

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speech writer and public policy advisor for conservative candidates and elected officials. Since 2001, his work has appeared in newspapers across the country and on various Internet web sites.

Today on Obama’s weekly address he said that he inherited record deficits from the previous administration without explaining to us that in his short tenure he increased the deficit nearly double in one month! It took the previous administration 8 years to get the deficit and Bush was fighting a war! When is he going to admit the stimulus is mostly is pure democrat pork. Go to www.recovery.gov  and see the amount of spending that is wasteful and not creating jobs. Yet he has the gall to look the camera in the eye and tell us that “we have to do health care now”. Everything is  urgent with him. I think he is the greatest con man since PT Barnum with the old saying “there is a sucker born every minute!”.

His goal is to implement control in government run health care, financial institutions, taxing energy, cars and change the fundamental way we live. This  agenda is with good intentions but is born from socialism which seeks to control peoples’ lives, limit freedom and eventually enslaves us due to high taxes.

Let us pray that he  doesn’t get his government run health care through with the massive loss of jobs!  SUCKERS!!!

By Ric Joyner, CEBS, GBA, CFCI

Inside the beltway information is showing the Democrats are up against the wall with rising unemployment, cap and trade (tax on energy), health care and a deficit that is the biggest in history. Their constituents are speaking up against the “change” agenda that could stop job growth. With that said, the House came out with today with their version of Health Care Reform. A synopsis of the bill from Kilpatrick Stockton follows.

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Mark Stember, JD

While the Senate committees have been bogged down with discussions over taxing employer provided health coverage, the House Ways and Means Committee has been furiously working on a draft health care bill that uses a different funding source.  Today, the House Ways and Means Committee released a draft health care reform bill that is projected to cost approximately $1 Trillion over 10 years.  The main funding source for this draft bill is a surtax on high income individuals.  The graduated surtax starts at 1% for married couples with incomes over $350,000 and tops out at 5.4% for married couples with incomes greater than $1 Million.  The surtax is expected to raise slightly over half of the cost of the legislation.  

Other highlights of the draft bill include the following:

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  • Individuals will be required to purchase health coverage, or pay an income tax penalty.
  • Employers will be required to either provide health insurance coverage that meets certain minimum benefit and contribution requirements, or pay a penalty based on 8% of their payroll.  The minimum employer contribution would be 72.5% for individual coverage and 65% for family coverage.  The minimum benefits include preventive care with no cost sharing, as well as dental and vision coverage for children.  Annual out of pocket maximums are also capped.
  • The legislation would create a public health insurance option.
  • Pre-ex exclusions would be prohibited.
  • Changes are made to Medicare and the Medicare Part D benefit is improved.

While the draft bill is comprehensive in both size and scope (dropping in at over 1,000 pages), it is only a starting point.  The House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled a mark-up for later this week, and it must be voted on by the entire committee, and then the full House.  Afterwards, it would need to be reconciled with whatever bill is voted out of committee and then approved by the full Senate.  We are still hearing that the leadership would like to have the full House and Senate have their respective bills done by the August recess.  However, even with today’s release, that timeline still appears to be aggressive.

The employee benefits committee of KS has a summary of the bill at this link.

By Ric Joyner, CEBS, GBA

I remember in 1994 when “Hillary Care” was collapsing under it’s own weight because the change was too massive. This appears to be happening again. However, this time, President Obama has opened several “change” fronts.The list starts with Health Care Reform (1-3,500,000,000,000 [let the zeros sink in] ) in new expenses. Next is “Cap and Trade” which is a European form of energy tax. What this means for average Americans is higher energy usage taxes on electricity and gas. In Germany, where Cap and Trade is underway the average German family saw their electric bill go up 25%. Some in DC are saying this is the largest tax increase in American history, in the name of Global Warming.

Left wing view of cap and trade. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/01/capandtrade101.html

Right wing view of cap and trade. http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm1723.cfm

Another new new front is for comprehensive immigration reform. These are bold and strategic steps the President is taking. In summary, when a president attempts to take on more change fronts the projects tend to fall apart or become minimized. In my opinion I hope that the taxation of employee benefits is laid to rest including elimination of Flexible Spending Accounts, which is our livelihood as well as 1.3 million employees and 48,000,000 participants (1-6 Americans).

Jobs are being lost at a record pace and this is forcing down the presidents poll numbers. The stimulus bill dollars are slow to funnel into the economy which now has created further angst on those waiting to get funding for projects and put people to work. Ahhh…the government is so efficient. I can’t wait for my health care to be provided by a bureaucrat!

Senate now is 60% Democrat with the seating of Al Franken, which means they have majority control and  this can  means the Dems can pass bills faster. For Obama’s agenda this is strategic coup! However, your voice is now more important than ever. Your representative is accountable to you as a voter and they want to hear your comments or concerns. Get a plan and work the plan.

Good news from an NAPBA member who is educating their representatives. An mail report came in this week on status of their representative who sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

Yesterday, we spoke with Geri Gaginis, Senator Conrad’s Executive Assistant regarding setting up a meeting with Senator Conrad in DC.  Geri told us that with the markup of the health care reform bill starting next week, he won’t have time but that she does not think we need to be concerned about the issue of FSAs, HSAs and HRAs under health care reform.  She stated that both Kate Spaziani and Dana Halvorson are very close to the action and confirmed that both Kate and Dana believe that FSAs, HSAs and HRAs will remain a viable option under health care reform. 

Suzanne Rehr

Executive Vice President

Discovery Benefits, Inc.

 

Newsletter from our Attorney:

Clients and colleagues:

As we approach the July 4th holiday, Congress and key players in health care reform are still debating about the three key issues - an employer mandate, taxation of employer-provided health care benefits and a public plan option.  No substantial developments have emerged on any of the three fronts, and none is expected until Congress reconvenes after the holiday.  However, a number of other developments have emerged including the following:

• The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored the Senate’s draft bill at a cost in excess of $1.6 Trillion over 10 years, but recently the Senate Finance Committee believes it can scale down the the bill to $1 Trillion.  This leaves one-half to two-thirds of the bill with no revenue offset, because even taxing employer-provided coverage is only expected to raise approximately $250 -$500 Billion over 10 years.
• Wal-Mart has sent a letter to President Obama supporting employer-provided coverage and an employer mandate (see attached).

Have a great Holiday.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

The KS Health and Welfare Team

Mark L. Stember
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
607 - 14th Street, NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005-2018
202.508.5802 (P)
202.585.0018 (F)
mstember@kilpatrickstockton.com

The job of educating our representatives is up to us. Getting the word out to clients, your employees and participants is crucial. The tools to do this are located at: www.napba.og

eflex is adding this survey to our emails and you can too. Our employees are adding this to their emails: Do you like your flex plan? Please complete this survey.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229BAUR6MBCs

Good luck and don’t let others do all the heavy lifting…make your opinion heard.