McDonnell releases statement on healthcare passage
By JR Hoeft | Monday, March 22nd, 2010 | PolicyVirginia Governor Bob McDonnell just released a statement on the impact of healthcare reform on Virginia and what can be expected in the short term from Virginia’s government to oppose the federal mandate:
“Expanding access to reasonably priced quality healthcare is a
bipartisan goal. We all agree that we must make it easier for Americans
to purchase and retain health insurance.However, this massive and complex piece of legislation allows the
federal government to exercise control over one-sixth of the United
States economy. The continued intrusion of this Congress into the free
enterprise system, and the placing of new mandates on states, is
shocking to the American system of federalism. Most disconcerting is
the provision mandating that every American must purchase health
insurance or face a monetary penalty. This is an unprecedented
expansion of federal power. It is hard to imagine our Founder’s agreeing
that the United States Constitution permits Congress to mandate the
purchase of a good or service under penalty of law. Just a few days ago
I approved a bill, passed on a bipartisan basis, which prohibits
mandatory insurance purchases for Virginians. Virginia’s Attorney
General has rightly chosen to challenge the constitutionality of the
federal mandate. I anticipate that he will be joined by a number of
other states. The issues raised by Attorney General Cuccinelli require a
full and prompt review by the judicial branch.While individuals face a mandate in this legislation, so too do the
states. The proposed expansion of Medicaid is an historic unfunded
federal mandate on the states. This expansion will put at least 400,000
more individuals on Virginia’s Medicaid rolls. The Virginia Department
of Medical Assistance Services has estimated that it will cost the
Commonwealth an additional $1.1 billion by 2022. Virginia, and the other
49 states, will bear the financial burden of one of the biggest unfunded
mandates in the history of our nation. This will have a significant and
unavoidable impact on the bottom line of our state budget, and the
general fiscal welfare of Virginia. We simply cannot afford this
expansion.The bill will cut over $500 billion from Medicare, and may reduce the
quality of the care our seniors depend upon. The Medicare system is
already underfunded and overburdened. This legislation only exacerbates
the problems facing the system.This legislation will raise taxes on individuals and businesses. Our
small business owners, who generate nearly 98% of the new jobs in
Virginia, will see their taxes go up. This will occur at the same time
that federal tax cuts from the early part of last decade expire. We will
face significantly higher federal taxes at a time when we need to be
keeping taxes low and freeing capital for job creation and economic
development. It can also be anticipated that Virginians’ insurance
premiums will increase in the years ahead after passage of this
legislation.I am further disappointed that a bill so massive in size is so limited
in its approach. Congressional Republicans were right to call for
allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines, and this
provision should have been included in the bill.States have long been leaders in the effort to identify and implement
innovative healthcare solutions. Regardless of the future of this
legislation, we must continue to play that important role in our federal
system. In Virginia we will promote incentives for the purchase of long
term care, and promote individual medical savings accounts. We will
focus on preventative health and combating obesity. We will study our
medical delivery systems with the objective of reforming them to work
better for our citizens. Free clinics are an important piece of the
coverage equation, and I will look for ways by which the Commonwealth
can help with the expansion of these important facilities. We will be
aggressive in finding every way by which we can reduce the cost of our
Medicaid system, which has already grown 1600% in the past 25 years. It
is unsustainable.Every American should have the opportunity to purchase good quality
healthcare coverage. But we will not improve our healthcare system by
implementing a massive one-size fits all federal policy that
dramatically increases the deficit, puts unprecedented mandates on
states and individuals, and jeopardizes the good coverage most citizens
already have. I am disappointed in the passage of this bill, and I thank
the bipartisan majority of Virginia’s congressional delegation for
voting against it.”
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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15 Responses to "McDonnell releases statement on healthcare passage"
Thanks Bob.
When I read stuff like this I think about all of those hours and days and weeks of volunteering I did this past summer/fall. It was a lot of work, and a lot of work that I and a lot of others put in, but when I read stuff like this, it makes it all worth it. Because of all of that work Virginia will lead the nation in re-establishing proper limits of federal power – thanks Bob and Ken for standing up for us!
One page of the constitution our founders produced offers all of the ammo needed to repeal 2700 pages of fiscal and social disaster!
Ken and Bob, Thank you again for exhibiting exemplary leadership. By showing Virginians and the nation that opposing bad legislation begins locally at the ballot box, you are rapidly establishing yourselves on a larger national stage that is elevating the broad degree of importance of electing candidates who restore honor and respect for all to the office they hold. You guys are a class act.
I’m sure the insurance companies will be telling Bob to zip it soon. It is now mandatory for people to purchase a product from a private company. It’s guaranteed business for the insurance companies. Do you really think there is a snowball’s chance of Republicans calling for that to be appealed?
Yes, it is no surprise that McDonnell praises all the components of the bill yet condemns it at large. He can read the republican play book. It is ironic that a Governor who has balanced the state budget by failing to maintain and sustain the state’s transportation and building infrastructure, and who just decides not to pay into the retirement system, takes a loan, and transfers those costs to our children, would have the audacity to criticize a piece of legislation that actually pays for itself. Yes, pays for itself, which has become a foreign concept to republicans at both the national and state levels. The Party of No is fast becoming a fringe group just like the VBTA and the tea party.
At this point Mike, the bill paying for itself is just propaganda. As Nancy said, we will have to find out what is in it.
Yes Kathy, and when Bush and the republicans passed the increases in MediCare, and created the donut hole, of course they did not even bother with propoganda, they just admitted that they did not want to pay for the cost of the Bill. So all this condemnation looks to me like pure hypocrisy. I firmly believe in pay as you go, and that no Legislation or initiative should ever be passed unless it is paid for. To which party do I now turn? The only recent President/Congress that actually put that concept into effect was Bill Clinton who erased the deficit and started to pay down debt. The President claims that will be his policy when we recover from this recession. I plan to hold him to that and expect there is a better chance with him than with the current crop of “Just Say No” candidates.
I am looking forward to Obama fulfilling his claim in his first State of the Union Address that he will focus on jobs for Americans. I hope his plan will not be like the Cash for Clunkers costing three times more than originally projected.
How long Mike can you and your family survive spending far more than you make?
http://www.federalbudget.com/
Kathy, almost every economist from every spot on the continuum of liberal to conservative acknowledges that stimulus was absolutely necessary to recover from the brink of fiscal chaos. The wisdom of that approach is now evident, yet I firmly believe that once we are back into a reliable recovery, Congress and the President must exercise fiscal discipline just like Clinton and Congress did a decade ago. Given recent history, the republican party has been the enemy of responsible fiscal discipline and policy, but I hope that will change. If it does not, the Party will move farther to the right and out of the poloitical mainstream.
Mike, you and I may see some things differently but one of the things we see differently is history.
Only eight months after George W. Bush was sworn into office, we had the worst attack on our United States of America in History. Using our own planes, 2,973 died. To me, this was worse than Pearl Harbor because as a Veteran, when you sign up to serve your country, you accept the risk of dying for your country.
While our reaction to Pearl Harbor was the USA defending our country against an act of war, so was President Bushes reaction. Mike, we still to this day have acts of war against us on our own soil. Agree or not, this is real.
This information is from: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_deficit_chart.html
Year GDP Federal Deficit
$Billion
1940 101.4 3.02
1941 126.7 3.73
1942 161.9 12.04
1943 198.6 28.05
1944 219.8 22.35
1945 223 24.07
1946 222.2 9.06
2001 10286.2 -1.25
2002 10642.3 1.48
2003 11142.1 3.39
2004 11867.8 3.48
2005 12638.4 2.52
2006 13398.9 1.85
2007 14077.6 1.14
2008 14441.4 3.18
2009 14258.2 9.91
2010 14623.9 10.64
Even with our country fighting against terrorism, our deficit did not reach the proportions it is today until after both houses, Senate and Congress won the Democratic majority in 2008.
I try to live in today. Based upon facts.
Yes, we were attacked, and the country rallied around the President. Regretfully, instead of aggressively continuing to pursue the enemy that attacked us, he spent the next year building the case for attacking Iraq. Many americans noted the discrepancy at the time. Further, there is a cost to war, and the responsible way to deal with that cost is to raise taxes to pay for it, not pass those costs on to future generations. So talk all you want about fiscal discipline, which I agree with, but don’t ignore reality and the facts. Clinton and Congress actually adopted pay go, and put it into effect by erasing the annual deficit which then reduced the national debt. As soon as this current fiscal crisis is over, we need to return to that discipline.
You ignored the point but I expected it. Have a great day Mike.
Actually no, you proved it. You showed the last year of the Clinton Presidency and you showed that the budget had a surplus, and the deficit went down. Then, you showed the Bush years, and you showed the deficit each year, and the national debt increased. Thank you for proving my point, and I hope you and other posters herein will join with others who agree that soon, the economy will be in full recovery, and it will be time to adopt pay go and start balancing the budget and reducing the national debt.
Mike,I will try one last time to reason with you:
Under Clinton’s presidency:
http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/one_item_and_teasers/partydiv.htm
Senate Majority
1993 – 1995 Democrat
1995 – 2001 Republican
http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/leaders.html
House of Representative Majority
1993 – 1995 Democrat
1995 – 2001 Republican
You give Clinton all the credit for a balanced budget without telling the whole story and you blame Bush for the deficit without telling the whole story of federal deficit tripling once the Democrats won the majority in Congress. Propaganda not based on fact is always the easiest way to go isn’t it?
Actually, if you read my posts, I said President Clinto and Congress instituted pay go and stuck with it. It was clearly the Bush Presidency that changed the course of history in regard to deficit spending.
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