Health care continues to dominate the work in Congress, as committees in both the House and Senate have actual bills under consideration now. Here are some important things to consider from the past few weeks, that we have been Twittering about, as well as a clear statement on our position on the Health Care debate.

First House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer laughed at the idea that members should commit to reading the health care bill before voting for it. Then word got out about the price tag for the plans being studied, and a few moderate Democrats sounded unsure about supporting them (as expected, our own Democrat congressman has issued no such statements of concern).

Then we learned more about the cost controls involved with Obamacare, how the Obama administration plans to buy silence from industry groups and their plan to impose job-killing costs on small businesses to pay for it. The 1018-page bill in the House Ways and Means Committee would actually prevent people from signing up for private insurance or changing their private insurance, retroactively, to force more of them into a government-run system.

On the bright side, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor wrote an excellent article on the differences between the Democrat plans and a true conservative approach to health care reform. And more recently Rep. John Shadegg and other Republicans introduced their own bill that offers real solutions to health insurance such as private pooling and tax-deductible coverage for those without employer-provided plans.

And there are some great videos dealing with health care here and here.

Rob Curnock believes strongly that we have the best health care system in the world, largely because the government hasn’t succeeded in breaking it yet. Rather than tearing down what works for so many to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator, a government-run system, our leaders should be looking for ways to encourage more people who need insurance to get it. Tax credits to offset the cost of a private policy is a good start; so is creating pooling options for churches and other community groups to sever the tie between employer and insurance.

Three things are absolute in this discussion:

• Congressmen should not rush through legislation, unread, as they did with the Stimulus and Cap and Trade, in an effort to pass something before people can understand what is happening and voice their opinions.
• Congress should be mindful of the debt they have already created this year and start trying to reduce our spending, not create more expensive programs.
• A government-run health option must be off the table, as it will kill off private insurance and fundamentally change the way doctors and patients interact to make decisions about care.