TO THE EDITOR:

When the president announced he was going to have a health care summit with Republicans, I was optimistic that we could work together to find a bipartisan solution to help the American people. After all, Republicans have introduced no fewer than 70 health care bills, 70 bills that have not been given even the slightest consideration. One alternative is my Options Act (H.R. 3889), a plan to make the purchase of health care more affordable to more people without staging a government takeover.

However, it has become extremely clear that the President’s televised meeting was nothing more than political theater. He set the stage with props of compromise, only to reveal that the script was already written. The plot of this story is still a government takeover of health care. It appears to be the Senate bill with just a few troubling changes that make that bill even worse.

The President’s new plan will cost more money and ultimately cost more jobs. It’s the worst kind of news during an economic recession. For example, the White House proposal imposes stiffer penalties on employers. Businesses with more than 50 employees must provide health insurance or pay $2,000 per person – an increase from the initial fine of $750 in the Senate bill. It also taxes high-end health plans, increases the Medicare payroll tax, and includes tax increases on virtually every American. This plan doesn’t lower the cost of health insurance. It just grows the size of government and hurts small businesses along the way.

Even the mainstream media saw through the President’s scheme. An editorial in The Detroit News called the second version of Obamacare “a recasting of the existing Democratic health care plan at an even higher cost.” It not only comes at an overwhelming price, but it is also against the will of the American people. “What’s painfully transparent is Team Obama’s purely political agenda that’s sorely out of touch with Americans’ priorities,” wrote The Pittsburgh Post Tribune, and the data backs up these statements.

A recent Rasmussen poll shows 61 percent of voters nationwide want Congress to drop the health care plan and focus on the economy and jobs. I urge you to continue to let your voice be heard and let the leadership know that it’s time for Washington to reset its focus.

U.S. REP. PAUL C. BROUN

Georgia Tenth District