TEN GOP HEALTH IDEAS FOR OBAMA

Wall Street Journal

February 10, 2010

Newt Gingrich and John Goodman

“If you have a better idea, show it to me.”  That was President Barack Obama’s challenge two weeks ago to House Republicans regarding health care reform.  He has since called for a bipartisan forum, not to start over on health reform but to “move forward” on the “best ideas that are out there.”

I have a better idea!  Since this is supposed to be a live meeting, the Republican leadership would better serve the country by saying the following: Mr. President, since you refuse to scrap your current plan which the overwhelming number of Americans reject, and your own party would not pass because of it’s obvious flaws, we are here to help you with your alleged number one priority for 2010, creating jobs.  No, Mr. President not throwing taxpayer money at the situation which you have demonstrated creates government jobs, but private sector jobs, that create true wealth.

This is our proposal:

1. Keep President Bush’s Tax Cuts in place until the budget is balanced

2. Go even further by doing away with the job killing taxes that force companies in America to send their operations overseas. We can help you if you will agree to:

3. Lower marginal Federal income taxes for individuals and family’s

4. Do away with the Capital Gains Tax

5. Cut the taxes on big corporations and small business to 12% the same as Ireland

6. Permanently do away with the death tax

7. Abolish all taxes on interest and dividends

8. Allow corporations and small business to write off 100% of the cost of major purchases required to grow their business in the same year.

9. Many of the above proposals have historical precedent, JFK did it, Ronald Reagan did it, and George W. Bush did it, all having the same experience of leading the country out of  serious  recessions and creating new jobs. In fact every time taxes have been cut more revenue goes to the Federal and State Government because more people are working thus creating a larger tax base.  It’s that simple Mr. President.

News Flash:  And then I woke up!  Be clear, Obama could care less about job creation and the creation of wealth. He’s all about progressive re-distribution of wealth and demonizing  those that are successful in America and refuse to be dependent upon his budget busting programs.

Should Republicans help Obamacare if he won't start by scrapping the bill?

The best ideas out there are not those that were passed by the House and Senate last year, which consist of more spending, more regulations and more bureaucracy.  If the president is serious about building a system that delivers more quality choices at lower cost for every American, here’s where he should start, say Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and founder of the Center for Health Transformation, and John C. Goodman, President, CEO and the Kellye Wright Fellow of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

• Make insurance affordable.
• Make health insurance portable.
• Meet the needs of the chronically ill.
• Allow doctors and patients to control costs.
• Don’t cut Medicare.

Also:

• Protect early retirees.
• Inform consumers.
• Eliminate junk lawsuits.
• Stop health-care fraud.
• Make medical breakthroughs accessible to patients.

The solutions presented here can be the foundation for a patient-centered system.  Let’s hope the president has the courage to embrace them, say Gingrich and Goodman.

Source: Newt Gingrich and John C. Goodman, “Ten GOP Health Ideas for Obama,” Wall Street Journal, February 10, 2010.

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