Letters: With slim hope for deal, tactic needed to pass health bill

Mar 9, 2010 — USA Today

With slim hope for deal, tactic needed to pass health bill

Reggie Marselus - Lenexa, Kan.

The Republicans in Congress are completely disingenuous in their statements on health care reform ("Obama set for 'up or down vote' on health care," News, March 1).

The legislative procedure known as reconciliation was used by them and President Bush to pass the tax cuts for the rich. And they used the tactic several more times while in power.

Budget reconciliation is not hypocrisy. It is the last straw in the face of total opposition. President Obama tried to forge a consensus on health care. The Republicans got exactly what they wanted, a health care bill they are totally against.

Perils of unlimited power

Richard Spencer - Frankford, Del.

The actions of Democrats in Congress concerning health care reform point to the inherent dangers of the unlimited powers of a majority.

The consequences of a majority thwarting the will of the people was feared by one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson.

He thought it would be dangerous for a majority legislature to use its authority to pass laws it considered just, but that its constituents considered unjust.

Unlimited power of any kind is a bad and dangerous thing because it is the germ of tyranny.

Liberty is endangered when a legislative majority enforces an arbitrary law and there is no power to retard its vehemence.

The health care bill strikes at the heart of our democratic values, and it could prove fatal to many of our personal freedoms. We are at risk. For example, under the health care legislation being considered, U.S. citizens would be mandated to purchase health insurance - a personal item. Where would it stop?

But the American people are striking back and winning the argument in the public square. About 70% of U.S. citizens have an unfavorable opinion of this health care bill. To now attempt to pass it through a reconciliation vote would be an unforgivably offensive act to the citizens who are against it.

The actions of the Democratic Party have become a national scandal as the Democrats first attempted to buy votes and now are trying to skirt the normal Senate rules.

I believe the voice of the people will mitigate the tyranny of this majority legislature in November.

(Pushing reform: President Obama, flanked by health care professionals Wednesday at the White House, continues to fight for medical legislation./Charles Dharapak, AP.)