Westford, MA—3rd District Congressional Candidate Jon Golnik released the following statement following the vote in the US House of Representatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
“I am pleased the House took this symbolic vote to repeal this job-killing, tax-hiking legislation, which does nothing to address the true issue of the escalating costs of health care and health insurance. However, I am dumbfounded by the vote of Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. Just weeks ago, Representative Tsongas voted to repeal one section of this law, the 2.3% excise tax on medical device manufacturers. Today, she votes to keep the law that includes this punitive tax. Congresswoman, do you or do you not support burdening medical device manufacturers in your district with a 2.3% tax that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the industry? These are dollars that could be used for growing their businesses, creating new innovative products and creating jobs. This legislation will mean job losses and will stifle innovation. Congresswoman Tsongas voted for this tax within the law in March of 2010, voted to repeal it a mere few weeks ago, and voted for the tax again today by refusing to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Her policy standings and voting record could give a voter whip lash.
“This back and forth, or voting for something before voting against it, is nothing more than an election year stunt and further clouds the visibility to the future that business so desperately needs. No wonder we are seeing no private sector hiring. Give private business the clarity they require. To just go on record to repeal a tax you voted for, knowing that the vote will never pass the Senate and become law is an election year stunt at the expense of business. Time is slipping away. We need real solutions to the health care and unemployment issues that confront this country. Enough of the political stunts. We need to repeal Affordable Care Care Act, which is anything but affordable, and implement real, market driven reform that will lower healthcare costs. Let’s allow individuals to buy insurance across state lines. This will increase competition and reduce costs. We need real TORT reform so doctors are not practicing defensive medicine. I would support a law allowing small businesses to pool together to purchase insurance to get the kind of rates larger companies do. The majority of individuals who do not buy healthcare do so because it is too expensive.
"Let’s lower costs and maintain quality through market driven reforms. This is just a start, but there are many things we can do to make sure that everyone that needs coverage receives it. But overhauling 1/6th of our economy with the heavy hand of the federal government and further separating people from healthcare decisions will not work as it doesn’t address the issue of rising costs. What has the federal government ever involved itself with that has improved quality, delivery and efficiency or lowered costs? Let’s repeal the bill and fix our problems without killing jobs and increasing the cost of medicine.”
