The arrogance and audacity of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and our very own House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has gone into full overdrive as they label those who dissent “un-American.” These are the same people who, for eight years of the Bush administration, repeatedly told us that dissent was not only American, but the highest form of patriotism. These are the same people who repeatedly accused Bush and Cheney of trying to stifle debate, dissent and free speech. And now, when the American people rise up against their hopelessly flawed healthcare “reform” bill, they start doing what they accused Bush of – trying to stifle debate and silence dissent. Glad to see Steny is steering clear of the extreme left and maintaining his moderate-ness.

In the column Un-American attacks can’t derail health care debate, which appeared on USA Today’s website Aug. 10,Steny and Nancy try to make the case that the opposition to their health care reform is somehow un-American, and that there is an effort on the right to stifle, suppress and silence debate. This is not only a complete joke given who it is coming from, it is also flat out false. What their column does do, however, is illustrate the tendency of many on the left to project their own tactics onto their opponents while manufacturing faux outrage. As a resident of Maryland’s 5^th Congressional district, represented by Hoyer, I am ashamed after reading this outrageous attack against American citizens including Steny’s own constituents. This man has such disdain for us that one can only wonder if he is truly the person we should send to Washington as our representative. Right now, he is reflecting very poorly on us.

The opening line of this hit-piece alone is cause for ridicule, as the dynamic duo state, “We believe it is healthy for such a historic effort to be subject to so much scrutiny and debate.” Right here, they set the tone as this statement is a flat out lie. Nancy and Steny have already demonstrated that they have no stomach for debate, discussion and scrutiny on this health care bill. If they did value these things, they would not have tried to ram this incredibly significant legislation through the House in a matter of days, leaving no time for scrutiny, debate or the facts to get out. This was exactly how they played the Cap and Trade bill too; they rushed in through the House without even allowing the voting membership time to read and scrutinize it, let alone to foster genuine discussion and debate. But this time, they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and are now desperately trying to keep the real facts from getting out, lest their pet bill go down in flames. Even worse, they seem to think that ordinary Americans are stupid enough to buy into their line that the bill does not mean what it says.

A few paragraphs in, Steny and Nancy state the following:

These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American.

Projection at its finest. The only people who have shown a fear of differing views and the facts are the statists pushing this government takeover of our health care system. As mentioned above, they were the people trying to ram the bill through before anyone had a chance to learn the facts and form differing view. I guess, applying their own definition, Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi must be un-American, as they did everything possible to shut out and shut down dissent. Make no mistake, there are people trying to silence dissent and obfuscate the facts, but it is not coming from the grassroots opposition, it is coming from the highest levels of our own government in the form of Nancy, Steny and their accomplices Barack Hussein Obama and Harry Reid.

So what are these “facts” that Steny and Nancy are so concerned are not being heard?

The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. It will allow every American who likes his or her current plan to keep it.

Funny, because anyone reading the text of the bill could spot this “fact” as nothing more than a distortion of what the legislation actually proposes. They promise more choice, and yet the language in the bill offers the opposite. The first choice that stripped away is the choice to either not carry an insurance plan, or to only carry a plan that covers catastrophic events while paying out of pocket for ordinary expenses. For anyone with a Health Savings Account in lieu of health coverage, this would put them in violation of this law and result in tax penalties. As stated in Title V, Subtitle A, part I, section 401 of HR 3200, there will be a tax levied on anyone “without acceptable health care coverage.” So in the world of Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi, forcing individuals to purchase not just health coverage, but only coverage that meets government requirements, is somehow creating “more patient choice.” The individual will be required to have “acceptable” coverage, as defined by the government, and the coverage providers will all be required to offer such coverage as the government directs. In effect, everyone will have to choose the same plan regardless of the provider. How does this equate to more choice?

As for keeping current plans, Steny and Nancy completely misrepresent the bill. Individuals who pay for their own health coverage plans may keep them if they choose, but anyone whose insurance is provided by an employer will be forced to accept whatever plan the employer purchases. If the government option established in HR 3200 is less expensive than private competitors, which it will be, a good number of businesses will switch to this plan. This will push tens of millions of people off their current plans and onto the government option. For those who do pay for their own plan, they can only retain it as long as it remains exactly as it is when HR 3200 goes into effect. Section 102 under Title I states:

(2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR CONDITIONS- Subject to paragraph (3) and except as required by law, the issuer does not change any of its terms or conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day before the first day of Y1.

In plain English, this means that a policy can only be changed in ways that bring it in accordance with the law. Any other change on the part of the insurer will make that policy invalid, and will force the policy-holder to then purchase an “acceptable” plan as defined by the government. So people can choose to keep their current plan, but only so long as the plan is not changed in any way. This is a partial truth given by Steny and Nancy, in which they state one and only one fact while omitting other relevant and important facts. This is done intentionally to mislead people into thinking the bill will not impact them if they like what they have now; a ruse that many are not falling for to the dismay of the dynamic duo.

This is only the very tip of the iceberg, as there are many other provisions in this bill that people like Steny and Nancy simply cannot afford to have the American people learn of. And in their zeal to cover this information up, they are resorting to the tried and true tactic of name-calling in hopes of cowing their opposition into silence. The dynamic due wrote a number of things in their column that could be easily picked apart by anyone reading the text of HR 3200 (available here), but the above paragraphs serves the purpose of this article – which is to illustrate just who fears having an honest and open debate on this issue and who is acting un-American in terms of trying to silence the opposition and drown them out. By writing with hand-in-hand with Pelosi, Hoyer once again demonstrates out of touch he is with his Southern Maryland constituency while showing how much contempt he has for us “little people” who get to vote for him. We in Southern Maryland certainly deserve a better representative than one who is so willing to write us off and attack ordinary Americans like us on a national scale.