With Sunday’s health care vote in Congress, we witnessed why elections matter. The House of Representatives passed a health care bill that the country has largely rejected by a razor-thin margin of 219-212 with even 34 Democrats voting against it.

I oppose this bill on two major points: 1) It takes away the freedom of individual Americans to choose the health care insurance policy that is best for them, and 2) It allows the federal government to set what must be in every medical insurance policy and to impose a penalty if your policy is more generous.

If I am elected to the United State Senate, I will work towards reforming those two weaknesses.

I believe we should cover those with pre-existing conditions and those who cannot afford health insurance but are not presently eligible for Medicaid (MediCal in California). But the way to do that is through an assigned risk pool, not through the single dominant federal role in health care that the Senate bill creates.

Furthermore, I’m gravely concerned that this bill will drive our nation further into debt and thus weaken our economy. The CBO estimates were based on instructions that were quite unrealistic, about cutting Medicare reimbursements substantially in 6 years.

It’s unfortunate the U.S. House and Senate could not have addressed the fundamental flaws in our health care system without insisting on a significant expansion of our federal government and an unnecessary intrusion into our daily lives.—Congressman Tom Campbell (candidate for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate)

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