Bentzen’s Blog

Congress needs to start reading the laws it passes. Please introduce DownsizeDC.org’s “Read the Bills Act.” I know you have the power to introduce this legislation on your own, without waiting for anyone else. I urge you to do so. This is a much-needed, common sense reform. I can see no justification for not introducing it. I’m telling my friends about it, and I look forward to hearing that you’ve introduced it. You can find the text of the legislation here: http://www.downsizedc.org/rtba_legislation.shtml

I have attempted to read several of the major bills that have been passed in the past year, but it is next to impossible to read an 1100 page bill.  I don’t believe that you as my Congressman read the bills either.  You don’t have time, and everyone knows it.  Nonetheless, the practice of voting in the affirmative for a bill that you have not personally read, digested, and fully understand is unacceptable.

Please bring back the practice of reading the full text of bills prior to the vote and help President Obama fulfill his campaign promise by giving the American people the transparent government we deserve.  The result might be smarter, shorter, better reasoned bills.  Thanks for your time.

Today’s Letter to Congress
by Brian Bentzen

Since joining DownsizeDC.org, I’ve been trying to send 3 letters every day on issues that are important to all of us as Americans.  Our future will depend on our actions today.  Sitting back and watching the TV as our Congress overregulates and overtaxes us into failure is not a good option.  Get involved in one way or another.  Run for office locally or on a state level.  My action is letter writing, and hopefully they will be counted.

Please oppose increased government involvement in health care. Please work to reduce government involvement in health care.

As an anesthesiology resident set to graduate and start a job in a private hospital in 2011, I’m concerned about additional government intervention into health insurance and payment for medical services. 

 Health care is not a right.  I am free to deny my services to anyone and cannot be forced to provide care, except in life threatening emergencies, in which I am both professionally obliged and glad to help.

Health care is the responsibility of the individual, not the government.  A patient who actively maintains their health through diet, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications is less likely to have chronic illnesses than those who engage in more risky behaviors like overeating, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, unsafe sex, or abusing drugs. 

Medical services rendered require payment.  The healthy patient who takes care of himself should pay the same rate (which is different from total amount) as the chronically ill patient who became sick due to poor decision-making.  The chronically ill patient, however, would utilize care more often and thus accrue a larger bill.  Medicare underpays.  Hospitals make up the difference with payments from private insurers and federal funding.  End the funding.

Insurance companies aggregate data from millions of individuals and can predict cost of medical services for an individual or group.  They price their plans accordingly, so they can invest premiums and make a profit.  The unhealthy patient pays more for premiums because their care costs more.  You wouldn’t suggest that everyone should pay for gasoline by the number of miles they traveled, so why should health care be paid for by the number of years lived?

Funding for health care should be spread amongst all individuals, not disproportionately placed on the rich and businesses.  This practice will lead to job losses for obvious reasons.  If I make $1 million a year, I’m probably a business owner.  If I’m now forced to pay $54,000 in health care tax, I will not be hiring a new employee for the same amount of money.  I may even work less to drop myself under the $1 million mark to avoid paying an unreasonable tax. 

End government involvement in health care.  Start taxing health insurance plans.  Don’t force employers to provide insurance.  Deregulate health insurance across state borders.  Due to competition, the result will be more affordable health care plans that include coverage for what individuals want: basics and emergency care. 

If there must be health insurance regulation, require that individuals obtain basic insurance on their own, or part of a group.  Health care is not a right.

DownsizeDC.org
by Brian Bentzen

After listening to last week’s Freedom Watch, I visited one of the featured websites, DownsizeDC.org.  This website is run by a group of individuals who believe in smaller government and believe the best way to save our country from its current downward spiral is to change the behavior of currently elected politicians.  They don’t work to elect the best candidates, because good candidates can become better politicians.  Instead they provide a means for concerned citizens to easily email their Representative and both Senators in a single step regarding current issues and possible new legislation.

After signing up for their site, I received an email update.  They send out 3 to 6 updates a week, each day focusing on one of their current campaigns.  These campaigns range from topics like “Federal Deficit Causes Congressional Pay Cut” to “Make Congress Read the Bills Before Voting” to “Repeal the REAL ID Act.”  Today the featured campaign was  ”Cap and Trade is Not the Way.”  By clicking on a link in the update, I was able to find out that my Representative Tim Holden (D-PA) voted against the recent cap and trade law.  I was then able to send a message to my Pennsylvania Senators, urging them to vote against cap and trade.  They provide a mandatory lead in sentence so you can’t violate the intended use of their site that began, “I think the cap and trade legislation is bad policy.”  From that beginning I wrote my own short and concise message regarding my thoughts on cap and trade.  I immediately received a confirmatory email and later in the day, received an automated response from Senator Casey say that my email would be read by his staff.

I urge everyone to look into this site and explore their campaigns.

Another Round of Tea Parties
by Brian Bentzen

The Tea Party Movement began earlier this year in opposition to increased government spending that will eventually need to result in increased taxation in order to pay off the debt.  There will be more tea parties tomorrow, July 4, in honor of Independence Day.  In fact, there are 1465 cities registered on TEAPartyDay.com.  Odds are good you’ll have a tea party within just a few miles of your home.  The rallying call of this organization is that hard working Americans who succeed and get ahead are Taxed Enough Already (TEA).  This message resonates with many Americans taxpayers who do not want bigger government.  The group doesn’t cover much about what will be covered at the rallies, but these Independence Day TEA parties are sure to be a blast, whether you are a libertarian, conservative, liberal, or just enjoy hot dogs.