This weekend, I voted "NO" on the Obama/Pelosi health care bill.
The plan is nothing less than a government takeover of the health care industry, complete with job-killing tax increases and the kind of budget-busting spending that will continue to heap debt onto generations of Americans to come. It is my sincere hope that continued activism by the American people and conservative, grass roots leaders will force the Democrat majorities in Washington to abandon their plan and start over.
I am not opposed to all reform. In fact, should I have the honor of serving as your next governor, I am determined to pursue free market reforms that will reduce medical costs and improve access to quality, affordable care. However, a government-run health care system is not the answer. Speaker Pelosi and President Obama want to heap more bureaucracy onto the system, but the way to control costs and reduce price inflation is to peel back the layers of burdensome regulation and administrative overhead, not add more.
What has been perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this health care debate is how out of touch it has revealed some of our political leaders to be. Oklahomans, and Americans everywhere, want the government to focus on job creation, growing our economy, and addressing the skyrocketing deficits that threaten this country's financial stability. Instead, Speaker Pelosi and President Obama have produced a 2000 page bureaucratic nightmare that will increase taxes, spend more, and do nothing to alleviate the high cost of health care that is threatening family budgets and hurting small businesses.
If the Speaker of the House and the President of the United States can't understand what Oklahomans want, we could sure use a governor that does. If I'm elected in 2010, we'll have that and more - because I will be the kind of leader who fights for our state, who fights for the cause of liberty and who pursues the kind of reforms that grow our economy, create more and better jobs and moves us towards a better, brighter future.
