Written by Scot Cerullo

When considering the health care reform debate, several questions immediately come to mind.

1. If government run health care has had horrendous results in England, the UK, France, and with Canada’s doctors pleading with their government to move away from their socialized model to one more focused on the private sector, why do the liberal Democrats in the House and Senate think they know better?

2. Medicaid is broke, Medicare is broke, Social Security is going broke, and yet the government is trying to take on one-fifth of the US economy and genuinely believes it can do so effectively?

3. Even the Cash for Clunkers program, a simple rebate program that any medium-sized private company could execute properly in its sleep, is not reimbursing car dealerships, has gone broke twice in two months, and many dealerships simply cannot afford to participate in the program any longer.

4. President Obama keeps saying he welcomes bipartisanship, yet he adamently refuses to sit down with Republican leaders and discuss medical savings accounts, tort reform, inter-state portibility and a host of other good ideas that would have an immediate impact on reducing cost and increasing competition.

5. As with the Stimulus Bill, our elected representatives openly state that they have not read the various health care proposals. Those that have do not understand it.

6. Perhaps most troubling is that Obama campaigned for two years on a platform of transparency, proudly declaring that all significant legislation would be posted on the Internet for voters to read and consider for 45 days prior to a vote. Yet had he had his way, a massive health care overhaul would have taken place two weeks after he began discussing it. No transparency, in fact, Obama isn’t even clear on what’s in the bill, or which bill he is referring to.

And the list of concerns goes on and on. Voters are correct in being fearful of the kind of health care reform being discussed. It closely mimics the many failed attempts throughout the world. It gives too much power to the government, which, over time, will permeate all aspects of our lives, including what we eat, what we choose to do in our free time, et al.

We certainly need health care reform. On that almost everyone agrees. But there are a great number of inexpensive ways to reduce health care costs and increase competition without the need to write a massive bill few read, and those who do can’t understand it.

That’s not change. That isn’t transparency. That is a liberal power grab.

Finally, if Obama truly believes in the health care reform he is promoting, if it is indeed the correct and moral thing for this country, why not just pass it? He has  majorities in the House and Senate.

The answer, of course, is he doesn’t have the voters on his side. He is trying to do something that the majority of voters disagree with. That is not the way our government is supposed to work. We are a representative republic, not a Thugocracy.