Letters – Citizen responds to Doggett on health care

To the Editor:
In response to Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s article in the Lockhart Post -Register on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, I am more concerned regarding what Doggett DIDN’T say, then what he DID say.

I contacted both of his offices on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and asked for the amount of money that would be taken out of Medicare and Medicaid Programs in this looming healt

h care bill.

The Austin receptionist answered my questions with, “I don’t know, but I’ll relay your questions to him.”

However, the Washington, D.C., receptionist told me, “$50 Billion dollars.”

I then asked, “How will Medicare and Medicaid afford to give and “protect all of (our) current benefits,” Doggett stated in the column? I received a nervous laugh, followed by a quiet “I don’t know.”

Unless Doggett is going to fund these services out of his own pocket, keeping our current benefits is just not possible! Less money means fewer services; fewer services means less care; less care means more illness; and more illness means more death.

Doggett said, “No death panels.”

Who will decide what services will be eliminated from Medicare and Medicaid in order to save this $50 Billion? How many people will make-up this “Death Panel?” Oops, how about “Fewer Survivors Panel?”

In the article, Doggett resorts to the old, it’s “All Bush’s Fault” for “Immense Deficits and Wall Street Bailouts.”

This Congress and President have, in 10 months, spent more than any president in history – $1.4 trillion – this amount doesn’t include this health care bill.

In the article, Doggett forgot to mention the Fannie/Freddie Mortgage Bill (the disaster that started this economic mess). The bill that he voted for and President Clinton signed into law in 1999. I guess he also forgot that President Bush, asked Congress twice to change that mortgage law, as he foresaw the looming danger. Doggett and the rest of Congress, ignored these requests.

Bailouts? Where in this article did Doggett mention the numerous bailouts of this administration, such as General Motors, General Electric, Bank of America, Citi Group, et.al.?

I also asked if he had read all of the 2,000+ pages of this health care bill. “Yes” was the response. I asked if he was in favor of the 800+ pages of amendments that have been added to this bill?

I received the “I don’t know” response.
Pushing on, I asked if he was in favor of the added gun control regulations, vending machines regulations and other numerous regulations that have been recently added to this “mystery” bill? I was told, “Of course he is… he helped write this bill.”

My last question was regarding where I could read this pending health bill. I was given two websites; both of which were labeled “Forbidden Entry.” When I relayed this information to the Washington office, I was told that “more is still being added to this bill.”

“How then,” I asked, “can we tell Doggett how WE want HIM to vote (as he will be voting within two working days),if we can’t read or be told about this bill, since it will be affecting our health and numerous other factors affecting our daily lives?” The response, “I don’t know.”

Pelosi promised us “No more lies” and Obama promised us “transparency.”
Is this the “change” we voted for?
Susan Modrall
Dale