SENATOR MCCASKILL GOES DOWN TO THE CROSSROAD - SELLS HER SOUL FOR POWER

Below is a copy of a letter that I received via the Missouri Sovereignty Project group of which I am a member. It is in response to a letter sent to our Senator, Claire McCaskill, by Bill Boone, a member of Campaign For Liberty inquiring about her stand on the health control bill. As you can see her response is typical political double talk. However, it would appear that she is going to go against the will of the majority of her constituents and vote for government control of 1/6 of our economy.

Thanks Claire. I hope that you have enjoyed your one term as a United States Senator. What have you been promised for your slavish support of the destruction of our Republic? Much like Robert Johnson it appears you have been down to the crossroads and made your decision. I hope you can live with it.

November 16, 2009
Dear Mr. Boone,

Thank you for contacting me regarding our health care system. I appreciate your comments and welcome the opportunity to respond.

There is no denying that our health care system is in dire need of reform. The soaring cost of medical care is crippling our economy, bankrupting our nation's families, and becoming an unsustainable financial burden for American employers. In the last eight years, health care premiums have grown four times faster than wages, and there are nearly 46 million uninsured Americans - the majority of whom are employed. It's tragic that in a country of great wealth like ours so many of our fellow Americans don't have access to care; and that the uninsured are suffering from avoidable illnesses and receiving expensive medical care too late, the cost of which gets passed onto the rest of us.

I am pleased to see my colleagues on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee and on the Finance Committee leading the health reform effort in the Senate. There are still many tough issues to resolve in the health care debate, including insurance coverage mandates, whether a public program will compete with private insurers, and how to pay for it. I welcomed the President's speech to Congress which outlined his view of how Congress should resolve the health care reform debate and offered room for compromise and pragmatism. While the debate continues, the highest priorities for Congress and health industry leaders remain protecting patient choice of care, curbing skyrocketing health costs, and expanding coverage for the uninsured.

Although I am hopeful that significant reform will be enacted by the end of this year, you should know that Congress has already passed several measures that have improved access to care for children and struggling families. In January, I voted for Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2), which will provide 4.1 million additional low-income children with quality health care coverage. I was also pleased that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), enacted in February, included extended unemployment health benefits coverage as well as funds for cost saving health care initiatives like health information technology.

Although there is not a final version of the health reform bill in the Senate, I understand that there has been a lot of confusion and misinformation, and, yes, some fear and anger, as well, surrounding certain proposals for reform. You may be interested to know the Special Committee on Aging, of which I am a member, has prepared a document entitled "Health Care Reform, Fact vs. Fiction". I would encourage you to visit the website http://www.aging.senate.gov/issues/healthcare/factvsfiction.pdf to gather factual information regarding some of these rumors. If you are interested in reading the House and Senate bills, you can find the most updated versions of the legislation by visiting www.help.senate.gov and www.energycommerce.house.gov.

Addressing our nation's health care crisis will be no small feat for Congress; but it will only get worse the longer we ignore it. Our nation's long term financial health requires a balance between family coverage needs and viable financing from businesses and the government. The current tenuous situation necessitates action on healthcare reform now. I look forward to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to find a fiscally responsible solution for the health of Americans and our nation's economy, and I am hopeful that we will have significant reform enacted by the end of this year.
Sincerely,



Claire McCaskill
United States Senator



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