Peter Deutsch – 3/20/07

This page was last updated on March 20, 2007.

Universal care is possible; Peter Deutsch; Beaver County Times; March 20, 2007.

Though Mr. Deutsch occasionally signs his letters “Dr. Deutsch,” he is not a medical doctor. Mr. Deutsch has a Ph.D. in physics. The last time I checked, Mr. Deutsch was a physics instructor at Penn State – Beaver Campus (Center Township). Mr. Deutsch is also involved with the Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice.

In his previous letters, Mr. Deutsch supported John Kerry in the 2004 campaign, wrote at least three letters dumping on voting machines, and wrote another saying to bring home the troops. Last fall, Mr. Deutsch was an apologist for John Kerry’s comment about the military saying, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Before you read Mr. Deutsch’s letter, consider the following comment he made on the forum (August 23, 2005) for the Beaver County Coalition for Social Justice regarding the voting machine issue: “Perhaps provoking them [election officials] with stretched truths is an apporpriate [sic] tactic. But let’s see it for what it is … a tactic.” When do “stretched truths” become lies?

“A March 8 writer held up veterans’ health care as an instructional example for national health care (‘Vets treatment a warning’).

“There very likely have been underfunding and bureaucracy in health care for veterans, active duty service people, and their families. And now there are many badly wounded resulting from a conflict in Iraq, now four years old, further exacerbating that problem.

“Universal single-payer health care as exemplified by U.S. House Bill HR 676 would be fully funded by the government but administered like Medicare with boards of experts and community representatives to assess programs and to provide further action as needed.”

[RWC] As a good liberal, Mr. Deutsch says his vision for universal healthcare “would be fully funded by the government.” “Fully funded by the government” really means fully funded by taxpayers. Why can’t these folks be honest?

Here’s how Mr. Deutsch’s “United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act)” would be funded.

SEC. 211. OVERVIEW: FUNDING THE USNHI PROGRAM.

(a) In General- The USNHI Program is to be funded as provided in subsection (c)(1).

(b) USNHI Trust Fund- There shall be established a USNHI Trust Fund in which funds provided under this section are deposited and from which expenditures under this Act are made.

(c) Funding-

(1) IN GENERAL- There are appropriated to the USNHI Trust Fund amounts sufficient to carry out this Act from the following sources:

(A) Existing sources of Federal government revenues for health care.

(B) Increasing personal income taxes on the top 5 percent income earners.

(C) Instituting a modest and progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income.

(D) Instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions.

(2) SYSTEM SAVINGS AS A SOURCE OF FINANCING- Funding otherwise required for the Program is reduced as a result of--

(A) vastly reducing paperwork; and

(B) requiring a rational bulk procurement of medications under section 205(a).

(3) ADDITIONAL ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS TO USNHI PROGRAM- Additional sums are authorized to be appropriated annually as needed to maintain maximum quality, efficiency, and access under the Program.

I’m sure you noticed the bill does not quantify the “small,” modest,” and “progressive” tax increases mentioned in Sec. 211.c.1. Care to guess why?

Regarding “Increasing personal income taxes on the top 5 percent income earners,” consider the following. “The top 5 percent income earners” already pay over 54% of total taxes paid and the bottom 50% pay less than 4%.

Please read my paper on healthcare.