Here's what the dims are actually doing in congress.

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DEMS DON'T WANT YOU TO BE SELF-RELIANT

Just in case you haven't already noticed, whenever a policy proposal is made that would increase self-reliance and decrease dependency on government you will find the Democrats lined up against it ... every single time. These people believe that America is great because of government .. not because of the hard work, perseverance and determination of the American people.

Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama try to make you believe that they actually care about your healthcare. That's horsecrap. The truth of the matter is: they don't. They care about power. Democrats want to provide government healthcare or insurance programs for one reason ... because they realize that controlling your health care means controlling you. Power. Don't believe me? Here's the latest. Take a look at what your Democrat-run House of Representatives did just this past week.

You do know what a Health Savings Account is, don't you? This is where you can set aside up to $2,900 every year in a special tax-free savings account. The money is allowed to cumulate year after year. This is before tax money. Then, with this money sitting in your HSA you can go out and buy a high-deductible health insurance policy that will be much less expensive than the policy you have today. You can then use the HSA money for your medical care and let the high-deductible health insurance policy kick in much later.

Well ... here come the Democrats. They don't like Health Savings Accounts. And why not? Because when you have that money stashed away for medical expenses, and when you can afford to buy a high-deductible health insurance policy, you won't be standing around screaming for the government to do something about your health care. So the Democrat House passes legislation that will require every Health Savings Account transaction to be reviewed and verified by some government agency as a legitimate medical expense.

Wait! You mean that nobody is verifying that the bills paid from the HSA are a legitimate medical expense now? Well of course someone is. The IRS watches to make sure you are spending this money on legitimate medical expenses, and not on Hanna Montana concert tickets. Not good enough for Democrats. They want another level of bureaucracy. And what is the purpose of this extra bureaucratic level? To harass people with HSAs. Nothing more.

So what is really going on here? Democrats are trying to kill free market options for health insurance by bogging them down with government regulations. They are using the power of government to chase you from private sector options into the gaping maw of government. This is the same party that claims it has your best interests at heart ... that it is your "human right" to have government provided healthcare.

There is another layer to this. It's called wealth envy. Liberals view these Health Saving Accounts as "insurance for the healthy and wealthy." Never mind that anyone can have this account. Democrats know, however, that some of their loyal constituents might rather spend the money on cell phones and sixpacks than on a Health Savings Account ... especially when they have their government nannies waiting to take care of them. "You just go ahead and obligate yourself for that huge car payment sweetie, we're here to take care of the really important stuff."

But even though the Democrats view these saving plans as solely for the wealthy ... if they took the time to do a little bit of homework they would see that this isn't the case. Since the creation of these accounts in 2003, over 3 million accounts have been opened, covering 4.5 million Americans. And a third of these new HSA users previously had no insurance. And 30% were small businesses that had previously never offered coverage to their employees. This should be great, right? This is what the Democrats complain about – those 30 million uninsured Americans ...

At the end of the day, we can thank Representative Pete Stark, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. It is Pete Stark's main goal as a politician to bring government-run healthcare to this country. He actually once compared these Health Savings Accounts to "weapons of mass destruction" because they introduce more individual choice into the healthcare marketplace.

And these are the people that you want to allow to provide your healthcare in the future.Commentary link

Here's the article:

Health Savings Sabotage

April 19, 2008; Page A10

Democrats have made affordable health care a mainstay of their election agenda, but apparently only if you're willing to get insurance through the government. Witness their stealthy assault on Americans who prefer the private-sector option of Health Savings Accounts.

This week, the House passed legislation that included a provision to require every HSA transaction be reviewed and verified as a legitimate medical expense. Democrats say this is to ensure that consumers are using their tax-free withdrawals for a knee replacement, rather than a new iPod. In reality it adds a layer of bureaucracy that could sharply reduce the appeal and cost savings of HSAs.

A key player here is Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark, whose main purpose in politics is to give the U.S. a government-run health-care system. He is a known opponent of HSAs – once comparing them to "weapons of mass destruction" – because they introduce more individual choice into the health-care marketplace.

Pushing for the provision was a company called Evolution Benefits, which has patented a system for the substantiation of health-care expenses. Evolution's lobbyist, John McManus, was the former staff director of the Health Subcommittee under Republican Bill Thomas. The company first lobbied for the HSA provision, then withdrew its support when Republicans began to focus on its role. But Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel helped make sure the provision was in the bill, which passed largely on partisan lines.

Liberals claim HSAs are insurance for the "healthy and wealthy," but there's little evidence this is true. How they work is that an employer or individual first buys a cheap, high-deductible policy for large, unexpected medical costs. Then the insured can open an HSA and make an annual contribution up to $2,900 for an individual in 2008, which he can use to pay for ordinary health needs. Savings not spent in any given year can build up tax-free.

This is health insurance many Americans can afford, and it doesn't force those who have better use for their scarce dollars to buy gold-plated insurance with special-interest mandates (cover the chiropractors!) that Democrats want to force on everyone. HSAs also give consumers more reason to care about prices, bringing much-needed market discipline.

Since HSAs were created in December 2003, 3.2 million HSA accounts have been opened, covering 4.5 million Americans. Nearly a third of new HSA users previously had no insurance and bought coverage on their own. Thirty-three percent are small businesses that had not previously offered coverage to their employees. Isn't this what good progressives claim to want?

Apparently not if it means a free market in health insurance. Having lost the policy argument when HSAs were created, Democrats are now trying to kill them with regulatory subterfuge. The new scheme purports to ensure that money saved tax-free in an HSA is actually used for health expenses. But this is a nonproblem: Any withdrawal from an HSA is already subject to a federal tax audit, just as individual tax returns are. In any case if people cheat on their HSAs, they are only cheating themselves. When a medical expense arises below the insurance deductible, they will be the ones paying for it, whether from their HSA or another bank account.

Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, decry the high and rising costs of health care, including insurance "overhead." Mr. Stark and his friends want to impose the same bureaucratic overhead even on spending that consumers do with their own money. The Senate should stop this one dead in its tracks.

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