Mark Hogan – 3/21/10

This page was last updated on March 21, 2010.

Altmire must do what is right; Mark Hogan; Beaver County Times; March 21, 2010.

A previous letter from Mr. Hogan was entitled “Hard righters can’t call themselves centrists.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response to U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire’s statement that he’s allowing the public to be heard and willing to do whatever they want:

“That’s the lazy politician’s way of working. We hired him to educate us and do what’s right.”

[RWC] Anyone looking to a politician for education is looking in the wrong place. The best you can hope for from a politician is that he doesn’t lie while trying to convince you to agree with him. You will learn below that “what’s right” is a government-run, taxpayer-funded healthcare monopoly, the ultimate destination of the current healthcare bill.

“If he’s the sheriff confronted by a mob that wants to hang his prisoner, does he just step aside for them? No, he stops them. He should also explain why they shouldn’t proceed.

“Instead of listening to the public repeat the scare tactic misinformation being put out, why not correct it? It’s not a government takeover any more than any of the regulation the government passes as law to protect its citizens.”

[RWC] It appears anything with which Mr. Hogan disagrees is “scare tactic misinformation.”

“Did the government take over the food and drug industries? No, it just passed laws for needed regulation.

“And the one sure way for Barack Obama to be a one-term president would be to raise taxes on the people he promised not to. Why couldn’t Altmire also explain that to young man worried his taxes will go up?”

[RWC] In case Mr. Hogan missed it, the Obama administration and Congress already “raise[d] taxes on the people he promised not to.” Effective on April 1, 2009, the federal tobacco tax increase ranged from 158% (cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff) at the “low” end to 2,159% (roll-your-own tobacco) and 2,653% (small cigars). As every anti-smoking report tells us, tobacco use is skewed to the lower end of the income scale; the very people Mr. Obama claimed wouldn’t see tax increases.

“Altmire, be part of the solution. Educate us and just always do what you think is right.”

[RWC] Mr. Hogan probably wrote this letter before Mr. Altmire “educate[d] us” and explained why he planned to vote “no.” In a Friday (3/19/10) press release, Mr. Altmire said, “Simply moving money around within the existing system, rather than enacting real delivery system reform, might change who pays the bill, but it does not improve the quality of care or reduce costs for families, small businesses, or the federal government. It creates a system of winners and losers, rather than reforming the system in a way that lets everyone win. It is estimated that after passage of this bill, federal health care expenditures would likely increase above what they would under current law. It has become clear that the vast majority of my constituents want me to oppose this bill. Particularly hard hit would be western Pennsylvania’s Medicare beneficiaries, which many experts believe would experience dramatic premium increases with enactment of this bill.”

I could be wrong, but I suspect Mr. Hogan will consider Mr. Altmire’s explanation of his “no” vote to be “scare tactic misinformation.”

For more on this topic, please read my paper entitled “Healthcare.”