Quote of the Day: “How do you know a politician is lying? His lips are moving.” — a proverb
Subject: Do you need the government to provide non-profit health insurance?
If some magic could be used to prevent politicians from lying, would they have anything left to say? We ask this question only partly in jest. Deception really does seem to be the dominant mode of speech for politicians. The latest example comes from claims being made by the President and Congressional leaders that . . .
* There’s too much profit in the health insurance business
* We need more non-profit health insurance providers
* The government should foster non-profit insurance by creating co-ops
John Lott punctures these claims in a column that’s well worth reading . . .
“Given all the attacks on profit-making insurance companies, what is possibly more surprising is that by far the dominant players in the “full” insurance market are non-profits…in 29 of the 43 states that data are available for in the American Medical Association report…the dominant company in the “full” insurance market is a non-profit company. In state after state, Blue Cross and Blue Shield hold the largest market share. On average, the largest non-profits hold over half of the “full” market share in those 29 states.”
In addition, as we’ve pointed out before, profit margins for the health insurance industry rank only 85th among American business sectors!
The politicians are trying to deceive the American people in order to profit by acquiring more power over your life. And they may profit in monetary ways too. Just watch what happens if the Big Government health care bill passes . . .
A lot of politicians are going to end up with big-paying jobs as lobbyists, or on Corporate Boards in the healthcare industry when they retire. Count on it.
Please share the Lott quote above, and the fact about insurance industry profits, with your Congressional employees. Send them a letter through DownsizeDC/org’s Educate the Powerful System, using our health care campaign.
Use your personal comments to tell your Congressional employees that . . .
* We don’t need non-profit government insurance co-ops because we already have plenty of non-profit insurance providers.
* Tell them profits aren’t the problem.
* Back up your claims by cutting and pasting into your comments the Lott quote and the fact provided above about the low ranking for insurance industry profit margins.
Public pressure has already forced the politicians to moderate their claims about the number of people who lack health insurance. We can also force them to stop making deceptive claims about the need for non-profit government insurance co-ops.
If the politicians know that you know the truth, it will make them very nervous, and may even change their behavior. You can send your letter here.
Please share this message with others.
Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how fast your army is growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.
Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
KEEPING SCORE REPORT
Your Downsize DC Army grew by 30 net new members over the weekend. This brings our total growth for the year to 3,851. The Downsize DC Army now stands at 28,197, nearly 20% of the way between 28,000 and 29,000.
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NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN SEPTEMBER: Brad Peters, Michael Lord, David D Segesta, John O’Donnell, Robert C. Jones, Jr., A.J. Stukenborg, Nathan Bailey, 3 unlisted — (10 new donations total) DONORS FROM AUGUST: Sharon Mears, John Matthews, Patricia Barnum, Brian Travis, Sarah Franke, Dirk Doebereiner, James Wahler, Meredith Weaver, Stephen Moffett, Matthew Whitlock, Dan Litwin, Russell Kominski, Veronica Arnold, Michael Bayback, Ann & Todd Secoy (in memory of Julia Bitner), James Marranca, Kay Samalin, David Hyatt, Douglas Steinschneider, Lily Riker, Nicholas C. Beason, Mr. Marlin, Edward J. Krieger, Lynnette Thompson, 17 unlisted — (41 total)
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