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H.R. 1424 - 03/11/2008

This past week, Rep. Harry Mitchell (D) helped to pass a bill in the House that will increase the cost of health coverage for employers, thereby decreasing wages and salaries in the long run. H.R. 1424, to which Mitchell cast a "Yes" vote, is a misguided attempt at making health coverage more accessible for the mentally ill. It's also a breach of his oath of office, as the Constitution does not allow such micro-management by the federal government.

Prior to the 1960s, before politicians became involved to such a large degree, our health care system was the envy of the world because of its low cost and accessibility as well as its high level of quality. Since that time, our government has meddled with health care beyond belief, resulting in declining quality and skyrocketing prices.

The solution to our health care system is to remove over-bearing government regulations and group-specific tax privileges that caused the problem, not by adding more of the same. While H.R. 1424 may have the good intentions of those that authored and co-sponsored it, it will have a negative impact on not only the target it's attempting to help, but on every day citizens in the form of yet higher health care costs.