Great Service
In an attempt at rebranding the “public option" U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a new label for it. She called it the “consumer option.”
“I do think that when people think of it as their option, their consumer option. Because public is being misrepresented as being something that’s paid for by taxpayer dollars, which it is not,”
How’s that, you say? Don’t forget it’s all Obama Money that comes from Obama’s stash.
Seriously, how stupid do they think we are?
In retrospect of my previous (and first) post I wanted to talk a little bit about Freedom of Speech. I am often amazed at how many people seem to misunderstand what our Freedom of Speech, as framed by the Constitution, really is and therefore errantly claim an infringement upon this right. Lets compare what the Constitution has to say about Freedom of Speech against what happened to Humana when the company mailed a flyer critical of the health care bill Senator Max Baucus was proposing. First lets take a look at what exactly the constitution has to say about Freedom of Speech. Actually it is the First Amendment to the constitution and it says this:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What this language establishes is that we have a right to express our opinions and views without having to fear retribution from the government for voicing those opinions.
What happened with Humana was that the company was forced to stop sending out mailings expressing concerns that it had about Medicare changes that the Baucus health care bill would institute. In response Senator Max Baucus urged The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to look into the Humana mailings, which lead to an investigation being launched. Once the investigation was launched Baucus then released a statement which contained the following sentence:
“It is wholly unacceptable for insurance companies to mislead seniors regarding any subject – particularly on a subject as important to them, and to the nation, as health-care reform”
So Senator Baucus has decided that Humana doesn’t have the right to express their opinions because he deems it “unacceptable”. He then used the power of a federal government agency to silence Humana’s voice. And that is something I find deeply disturbing.
Freedom of Speech? I guess that doesn’t matter to this government anymore.
Dan
jobuzz912
