RNC Chairman Michael Steele sent President Obama a letter this morning, urging him to delay the “trillion dollar gamble” of health care reform, and instead focus on jobs and economic recovery.
In his letter, Steele also warned Obama that America may yet face a “double-dip recession,” citing “the unexpected economic meltdown in Dubai” which reminds “us we don’t know the full extent of the global financial crisis.”
He also brought up that there are other possible unforeseen problems for the U.S. economy, such as that “the Democrat-run Congress’s record setting spending spree” may bring back “Jimmy Carter style inflation.”
Steele continued, railing against the proposed health care legislation: “Common sense tells us this is the worst possible moment for Congress to risk spending another trillion dollars we don’t have. This is not the time to gamble a trillion dollars on a 2,000 page health care experiment Congress is stitching together by the seat of its pants.”
He concludes: “If you signaled that we should delay this trillion dollar gamble on health reform and focus on economic recovery, Americans would listen. Congress would listen. Democrats and Republicans would stand with you and proudly so.”
Here’s the full text:
Dear Mr. President:
Last Friday, new job numbers confirmed our unemployment rate remains in double digits. Jobs are still being lost every month. Banks are still failing and companies are going bankrupt, leading to more job losses. A commercial real estate crisis is looming. Deficits are threatening the onset of inflation and weakening the dollar. At home, we may face a double-dip recession. The unexpected economic meltdown in Dubai tells us we don’t know the full extent of the global financial crisis.
Americans and their employers are uncertain about their future. We don’t know how many Americans are going to be employed or still looking for work in 2010. We don’t know if the Democrat-run Congress’s record setting spending spree will bring back Jimmy Carter style inflation. We don’t know if a devalued and weakening dollar will again push gas prices out of reach.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, all of us can agree on this: In this uncertain economy, growth and jobs have to be our priorities. The American people think of little else. Common sense tells us this is the worst possible moment for Congress to risk spending another trillion dollars we don’t have. This is not the time to gamble a trillion dollars on a 2,000 page health care experiment Congress is stitching together by the seat of its pants. Washington’s rescue efforts have already burdened our economy with the costs of huge bailouts and government takeovers. When Americans look for relief, they see record debt and deficits. If Americans are still looking for full-time work and employers are still shutting their doors next spring, Democrats and Republicans are going to wish they had that trillion dollars back to create jobs.
You wouldn’t advise any American to bet the rent check now if they didn’t know whether they would have a job next spring. You certainly wouldn’t advise them to borrow money to put at risk, if they had no clue if they would be employed. Much the same, Congress can’t afford to throw the American people further in debt now and splurge on a risky health care bill when we may need all the resources at our disposal next year to rebuild a sagging economy.
Mr. President, this is why we are asking you to delay your efforts to push your health care bill through Congress by the end of the year. Until we are sure job creation has begun in earnest, we should put aside our differences on health care. We should watch our spending. We’ve got an economy to rebuild and restore.
We can still take immediate action to control the rising cost of health care. We urge you to consider common-sense incremental reforms we can all agree on, such as letting American buy insurance across state lines, allowing small businesses and self-employed Americans to group together to purchase health insurance, and making insurance affordable by providing tax incentives for health savings accounts. There are reforms that won’t add to the deficit and Congress can pass them by Christmas with bi-partisan support.
Mr. President, health care reform has spiraled out of control. It spends too much, cuts Medicare too much, raises premiums too much and taxes too much. If you signaled that we should delay this trillion dollar gamble on health reform and focus on economic recovery, Americans would listen. Congress would listen.
Democrats and Republicans would stand with you and proudly so.
Sincerely,
Michael Steele
Chairman of the Republican National Committee
