RSS
Home
Senator Nelson holds the key to health care and cap and trade
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
http://bennelson.senate.gov/issues/economic_security/health_insurance.cfm
Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska can be expecting several phone calls to his various offices as health care and cap and trade debates fire up, and bills hit the senate floor. Senator Nelson was a key player in February's stimulus package, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, as his close work with three Republicans allowed the passage of the bank busting bill. Although Senator Nelson's "It stunk the least" justification for supporting the stimulus bill was dull and certainly devoid of any wisdom, he is still a very important Democrat pertaining to the coming destructive health care and cap and trade policies.
Any Republican that wants to stay in power will oppose a public option in health care, and they will oppose the cap and trade power grab. So, the key to stopping these mammoth bills rests in the hands of balanced Democrats like Ben Nelson. On Nelson's website he states that, "While some have called for a public plan, I believe we cannot effectively resolve our health care crisis if Congress becomes weighted down by creating a government-run option to attract Americans away from their private coverage, with little more to offer than cosmetic improvements and the creation of an unlevel playing field." Senator Nelson then acknowledges that Medicare is on a troubled road, and that Medicare is directly responsible for higher premium rates in the private market.
In his response to President Obama's budget, Senator Nelson expresses concern for economically damaging tax hikes during a recession, and dangerous policies such as cap and trade. He states, "...I'm not sure raising taxes is the best way to go in these times. I also question counting revenue for cap and trade policies that haven't been implemented yet and could have a negative impact on our economy." In the Grand Island Independent (3/11/2009), Senator Nelson writes that cap and trade could impact our economy negatively by "raising utility rates on consumers."
Everything that can be found about Senator Nelson says that he is about a balanced budget, low deficits, and low spending. None of these descriptions match with his diligent work on the stimulus bill. Everything that can be found on Senator Nelson's views on health care reform and cap and trade indicates that he will oppose the big government proposals being put forth by Democrats in the House of Representatives and the White House itself. He swayed from his apparent commitment to responsible governance through his work on stimulus, and one can therefore assume that he can be torn from his free market solution stances on health care and energy.
Nebraskans recognize Senator Nelson's meandering politics. For that reason, we must contact him via phone, email, fax, private meetings, mass demonstrations and the like to keep him from popping up on the wrong side of health care reform and cap and trade. He must know, according to his own litmus test, that a government option to health care and hulking bureaucracies bogging down our industries on the advice of bad global warming science fail to pass the smell test. Certainly, in his infinite wisdom, Senator Nelson can craft a solution that "stinks much less" than the proposals being offered now.
Related Articles:
Comments
