People say the Republicans want to defeat healthcare reform; that they do not have a plan of their own. This is not accurate. Here are the guiding principles of the GOP healthcare plan:

1. You’re on your own: If you can’t afford healthcare, you don’t deserve it.

2. Tax breaks for the rich: Rich people need more healthcare than the rest of us. For one thing, they have all that cosmetic surgery. Therefore, if you make more than a half million dollars a year, you will get a big tax cut, to pay for all your healthcare. Everyone else will get nothing.

3. Hands off insurance companies: States will be prohibited from regulating health insurance companies in any way. If an insurer wants to arbitrarily deny coverage, or charge twice as much for a policy, or turn down clains for no reason at all, that’s okay. We call this “free enterprise.”

4. Malpractice reform: Nobody will ever be able to sue a doctor or hospital for any reason. If you go in for a tonsillectomy and get both legs cut off by mistake, that’s a shame, but we can’t have you suing. It will drive up healthcare costs.

5. Abolish employer-provided health insurance: Except for the “Cadillac” plans that company executives get. As a matter of fact, abolish all union-related benefits.

This, then, is a plan that the “tea baggers” and all those thugs who like to disrupt town meetings can get behind. What do you think?

Joe Gerken Jr., Buffalo

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