Senator Lincoln's betrayal of Arkansans is inexcusable.

Today, in the early morning hours under the cover of darkness while we slept, Senator Lincoln once again aligned herself with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, and the far left liberals in Washington. Senator Lincoln voted in favor of a controversial healthcare bill that 64% of the people she was elected to represent oppose. Over the weekend the phones in the Senator’s office went unanswered and the voicemail was full. She refused to communicate with Arkansans on what was arguably the most controversial vote of her career. Her betrayal of the people of Arkansas is inexcusable.
In a press release sent out early this morning Senator Lincoln sought to justify her vote in favor of cloture on a healthcare bill that will kill jobs and allow our tax dollars to pay for abortions by claiming that it “will lower health care costs, expand access to more than 400,000 uninsured Arkansans, and reduce the deficit by $132 billion in the next 10 years.” You and I know that claim is simply false.

Phil Kerpen, Political Director for Americans for Prosperity, has summed up the true cost of this bill for us. According to the “Congressional Budget Office, the new bill costs $871B, raises federal revenue $498B, cuts Medicare $438B, and at the end of ten years still leaves 23 million uninsured. The bill … balances 10 years of revenues against just 6 years of spending, and uses what Democratic Budget Chairman Kent Conrad called a "Ponzi scheme” to conceal the real costs. This budget-busting bill will really cost trillions and drive our already out-of-control national debt much higher.”(1) From the federal down to the local level our economy will be decimated by this monstrosity.

Our friends at the Heritage Foundation point out that small businesses fall under an "employer mandate" provision which imposes an “annual tax penalty of $740 per full-time employee,” if the employer does not offer a qualified health insurance plan. If the business does offer health insurance then the employer is required to pay 60% of each employee’s premiums. Additionally, employers will be taxed up to $3,000 per low to moderate income employee if the employee chooses to accept federal subsidies for healthcare.(2) Under this bill your employer has the right to know how much your total family income is for every person in your household. If they can avoid paying the $3,000 fine they will do it by hiring people who exceed federal subsidy limits. In effect, it will be more difficult for lower income families to find jobs and actually get healthcare. Wasn’t this bill supposed to cure that problem?

It doesn’t stop there. We will be forced into buying cut rate, government approved, insurance plans. Why? Employers will begin phasing out their insurance plans because it is cheaper to pay the $740 yearly fine than to pay 60% of their employees’ premiums. Employers will also lay off workers to offset the fines resulting in even more people on government assistance in turn raising taxes even more. It is a vicious cycle that amounts to more government control over you and your family’s lives. Liberals in Washington think we are incapable of making positive choices for ourselves and our family. Well, I have a message for the elites who continue to marginalize the voice of Middle America, we do know what is best for our families. We have had enough and we are coming for your jobs. You may be able to outsmart the bureaucracy but you can't outsmart the ballot box.

UPDATE: This morning Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama filled us in on a little "accounting error" made by the CBO is calculating the cost savings for Medicare. This error double counts estimated savings to Medicare Part A. This was found by CMS and you can read the response from the CBO by clicking here. Please note the last paragraph where they admit to this error.

1) http://www.americansforprosperity.org/122009-senate-played-pork-politics-its-worst
2) http://www.heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/wm2737.cfm