Gerry:

By your own design and inclination, you are at the center of a great whirl wind; and as your friend and supporter, I am compelled again to write you my view of the evolving situation from my more peaceful perch.

You are being asked to vote for the Senate Health Care bill in its entirety and pass it into law. While no doubt there are good things in it, the bad are more obvious:

• The bill adds another unfunded entitlement to our unsustainable debt burden. Rather than addressing the existing entitlements, it removes $500 million from an already unfunded Medicare as a way to justify this bill. The independent bond rating agencies have been consistently warning that they will reduce our country’s AAA standing if we continue on the folly; doing so will increase the interest rates required to sell our bonds which only compounds the crisis.
• The $500 billion in new taxes used to partially fund the bill start now while the benefits don’t begin in full for 6 years. This may help reach arbitrary money targets for the first 10 years but does nothing to assuage future costs.
• Your own State’s legislature has passed a bill stating that Virginia’s residents may not be forced to purchase health insurance. At the least this sets up a constitutional suit that will only be settled by the Supreme Court. If the mandatory insurance provision is ruled unconstitutional, the government will be on the hook to make up the short falls only exasperating the deficits.
• The bill is full of special exemptions for states, districts, and unions. This corruption is in plain sight of everyone.
• The bill changes 30 years of existing law regarding the use of Federal funds (either directly or through tax subsidies) for abortions; few subjects inflame passions more than this.
• It does not address in any meaningful way the underlying costs of health care.
• It does not insure coverage for all American, a stated purpose for the bill.

You are also being asked to pass a separate Reconciliation bill which will try to correct many of the items described above but which will only come up for consideration after the President has signed the Senate’s Bill. Once the bill that 60 Senators approved becomes law, the smart thing for them to do is ignore the House’s Reconciliation, carve out the sweeteners they like in that bill, and send it back to the House for it to vote. None of the things behind which your Democratic colleagues are trying to hide will be corrected. The President himself wants to sign the bill and leave town; isn’t that a clear indication of his priorities on the House’s Reconciliation ideas?

And now you are being asked to avoid the “yeas and nays on the Bill” through some parliamentary slight of hand. This process is used on routine House matters, but your own leadership decried this process when they were in the minority (http://bit.ly/9Mm5Cj). There are serious constitutional issues that no doubt will be subject of suits and rulings from the Supreme Court. In any case the public perception of these shenanigans is clear.

Why are you being asked to do these things? Certainly it is not to pass  “universal” health care, it is not to contain its rising costs, it is not to bring entitlements in line with available funds, it is not to have your constituents treated the same as those in Florida, Louisiana, and Nebraska or those who are members of a unions, and it is not to bring immediate relief to Americans. For you personally, it is certainly not to enhance your chances of continued service in the Congress; the Washington Examiner has you at 35% behind your opponent who is laying low in anticipation of your falling on this health care sword.

You are being asked to do these things because Obama and Pelosi want to once again be crowned as “historical”. One need only listen to their public statements to confirm their underlying intentions. Apparently, the high from being the first Black or woman to hold their positions has worn off and they want you to anoint them again. It is obvious they don’t care what is in this bill, what it will do to our the government, or the damage it will do to health care. Showing the world again their historical crown is their goal while their loyal lemmings march ever onward.

As the president of freshman Democrats, you are being watched closely by your peers. You are the swing vote. Vote yes and others will join you. Vote no and they will do the same. You have been silent on this, but you must decide and declare your position.

Know that I only wish you the best.