Sam Johnson

Washington, Apr 30 -

At a time when the nation’s unemployment rate hovers near 10 percent, and Americans across the country are asking "where are the jobs?," the last thing middle-class families and small businesses need from Washington is more taxes and more regulations.

But that’s exactly what they will get under the massive government takeover of health care President Obama signed into law without a single Republican vote and despite warnings from more than 130 economists that the $2.6 trillion bill "will eliminate jobs, reduce hours and wages, and limit future job creation."

Already, news reports are measuring the staggering economic losses as a result of the new law in the billions. AT&T Inc. announced it will post $1 billion in losses for the first-quarter alone in costs related to the healthcare law. The Dallas-based company indicated that it will consider changes to the health benefits it offers current and retired workers.

Other major U.S. employers John Deere, Caterpillar, Verizon and Valero Energy say they also will take a huge tax hit. Facing the reality of these losses, many such companies will have no choice but to lay off workers or hold off on hiring. Other companies suggest that they may have to drop coverage for retirees or find new ways to pass costs along to their customers.

Major manufacturers aren’t the only ones bracing for new costs and tough decisions ahead. Small business owners are concerned that all the burdensome regulations and tax hikes in the President’s health care law could force them to cut payroll, freeze wages, and/or drop health care coverage for their employees.

This gloomy economic news comes in addition to a recent nonpartisan report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), experts on the healthcare law, which confirmed that 14 million people will likely lose their employer-provided coverage, not to mention all the seniors they state who will lose coverage when Medicare providers drop out of the program.

Clearly many problems in the Democrats’ government takeover of health care cause Americans to worry. During recent trips throughout the Third District I’ve heard from a number of constituents who are opposed to many of the law's troubling provisions.

Rightfully so, seniors have tremendous concerns over the dramatic $523 billion in cuts to Medicare that will reduce choices and lower quality of care for the elderly. I listened to constituents who are concerned that under the new law, taxpayer dollars likely will fund abortions (legal experts agree it will). I met with constituents concerned with reports by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that show President Obama’s government takeover of health care will increase premiums by as much as $2,100 per person and add hundreds of billions of dollars to our deficit at a time when our national debt is already alarming.

This law is not what Americans asked for and it’s not what Texans want. In fact, a recent poll conducted by a Democratic firm found that opponents of the new law outnumber supporters by 15 percentage points. That’s why it’s no surprise that grassroots activists and reform-minded legislators from across Texas are joining efforts in a total of 40 states to challenge the new law in courts and through state legislation.

I’ve also joined the fight to repeal and replace this government takeover of health care so we can start over with common-sense solutions to get health care reform right. It’s time to stop taxing and regulating families and businesses into the ground and instead provide them with the freedom and incentives they need to grow and prosper. That is why I support repealing the recently-passed health care bill and replacing it with patient-centered, market-based reforms that will increase consumer choices while driving down the excessive costs that have shut so many people out of our health care system in the past.

Through repeal, we can do away with the tax hikes and replace them with affordable solutions to lower costs and cover Americans with pre-existing conditions. We can repeal these Medicare cuts that take choice and benefits away from seniors to fund a new entitlement program and replace them with reforms that strengthen Medicare for seniors today and tomorrow. We can repeal all these Washington accounting gimmicks and replace them with transparent policies where you get what you pay for. And we can repeal all the backroom deals that use money we don’t have to buy votes for controversial, unpopular legislation.

If there’s one thing that the American people want today, it’s jobs. Let’s repeal this jobs-killing government takeover of health care and start over with common-sense reform to lower health care costs and help small businesses create jobs.