Sound off! Aug. 12, 09

Sound off!

Butterfield’s health care forum

I went to Congressman Butterfield’s Town meeting Tuesday night in Rocky Mount. It was one of the most disappointing nights of my life. I grew up in a country where people went to work to make a living for their families and to participate in the success of their country. To participate in the generation of the Gross National Product that made this country the greatest the world had ever known. I choose “known” on purpose because after the demonstration put on by Butterfield I know that ranking is soon to be a thing of the past. To hear a member of Congress belittle the people who generate the wealth of this country was sickening and to listen to the throng who have more than likely never produced a dime toward the GNP, that provides a check for them each month, was worse. Just think, he said, we are going to provide you with a health care program and you will not have to pay a dime. The cost of the health care program will be fully paid for — Half will be paid for by a surtax on the wealthiest Americans and the other half will be paid for by making Medicaid and Medicare more efficient. Everyone has known these two programs have become a financial disaster and Congress has done nothing for years. If Congress is unsuccessful in making these two programs efficient, and we all know this likelihood is a joke, then they will go to the most successful companies involved in health care industry and take whatever they need to balance the deficit in their spending. The crowd went wild in support of the idea. Mind you, Butterfield has never contributed a dime to the value of this country. The people in the room would not have to provide a dime to the program. Let me remind these people: There is no such thing as a free lunch and you all will rue the day you cheered for this. It’s incredible to me to think we have people making laws who are so incredibly stupid.