Overhaul would destroy health care

Many letters to the editor are written about the current proposal for health care reform, and rightfully so.

The proponents accuse Republicans of opposing Obama's utopian dream of universal health care for purely political reasons. This labeling of Republicans as mindlessly political obstructionist is nothing more than blackmail. The same blackmail tactic used during the last election when anyone who opposed Obama was labeled a racist. No more dishonest traps.

The reason that we Republicans oppose the Obama universal government run health care is that the plan is a disaster in the making.

It compounds the already enormous public debt, the number who will lose their current private coverage will far outnumber those that are newly covered, everyone will be taxed, not just the so called soak the rich, (raising taxes in a recession is ignorant and a disaster). In short it's a lousy idea.

The end result will be the destruction of the private sector health care system (which is the best in the entire world) replaced by a government run system, in other words, socialized medicine with all its benefits of rationed care, shortage of doctors, enormous cost of the new government bureaucracy and lack of innovation. Just ask the Canadians or the British about the virtues of socialized medicine.

No one would argue that something should be done on a purely humanitarian basis, not as a right, for the approximately 3 percent of the American citizens who actually have no ability to obtain health care coverage? Reform the system, yes, destroy it, no.

Not unless Obama's grand scheme for this country is to bring all aspects of our lives, including health care, under government control. Now that's one change you can believe in!

Laszlo Stephan

Des Plaines