Joe Smith: House Republicans Outraged with Washington DC

The people of Missouri have spoken, and we have heard what they have to say: We will not stand behind what's going on in Washington. The healthcare bill that the federal government is pushing can only hurt Missourians.  Federal mandates will increase costs to our state and on our citizens – WE DO NOT WANT A TAX HIKE.

This is what we're doing to stand up to the federal government; we held a press conference yesterday, vowing to bring a resolution to the House floor that would denounce a federal healthcare mandate – we want Congress to hear our voices! This week we had a letter hand-delivered to the Governor's office, urging him to take action against federal mandates that would lead us to a devastating financial crisis.  The Governor MUST speak out on this issue – he is the leader of our state and he owes us an answer.

This week we also sent a letter to Attorney General Chris Koster urging him to join other Attorney Generals nation-wide in standing against the "Nebraska Compromise", which would leave Missourians to foot the bill for Nebraska's Medicaid expansion.  It is our hope that Attorney General Koster will review the constitutionality and legality of this compromise – it may violate the United State Constitution.

This week, hundreds of concerned Missourians flooded the halls of the State Capitol to express their displeasure with the federal health care plan currently being considered by Congress.  Several members of the Missouri House spoke at the rally where the main topic of discussion focused on the unfunded mandates contained in the federal plan. Like me, they are concerned the federal plans would create an unfair tax on individuals who do not purchase health insurance and penalize businesses that do not offer it to their employees. It was energizing to see so many Missourians make their voices heard on this vitally important issue.

As our state faces budget uncertainty, we must be wary of any plan that would potentially cost Missouri taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The bottom line is that we must take a stand against the federal government in order to protect our individual rights to make our own choices when it comes to health care coverage.