Dear Republican Party

I am writing to plead that you discontinue your lies and your uncooperative spirit on health care reform. While you may think that this is good short-term strategy politically (I would disagree), it is not worth the cost of your party's future, much less the health and financial well-being of our country and the people of which this nation is comprised.

Please remember that it is these people that have elected you into office, and have charged you with the task of creating solutions to the problems our country faces. I beg that you remember that politics was meant to be a means to an end, and not the end itself. Opposing health care reform solely in order to cripple the President's power is not true to the calling of your profession.

We the people are not stupid. Our current system is seriously threatened by rising costs, and all experts agree that this system will be getting much worse in the future. First and foremost, I'm asking you to acknowledge the obvious--reform is necessary, and even vital to the future well-being of our nation. And then, do what you were elected to do, and respond.

I'm not asking you to swallow the President's health care bill. In fact, I'm asking the opposite. Bring some of your ideas to the table. Bring your concerns to the table. But don't bring your bullshit to the table, your lies about death panels and Obama's plot to kill old people, about the bill's intention to insure illegal aliens. I'm not buying it. And Joe Wilson, piss off.

I believe that there are some of you that truly do care about this issue. Please, now is the time to step out of the shadows cast by ignorant entertainers like Rush Limbaugh. You will be greeted with admiration for the courage it takes to dissent with ones peers when you know they are in the wrong.

To me, true health care reform will accomplish the following: No one that wants affordable health care coverage can be denied it because they are sick or have "pre-existing" conditions. My brother has three "pre-existing conditions" with his heart, which stopped in July 2007 for nearly two minutes. Once he's married or out of college, he is no longer covered under my dad's plan...and now his condition is "pre-existing", and guess who can't get coverage? Are you listening to me, Republicans? If, or should I say when, his heart stops again, will he be bankrupted with medical bills? Will he be able to get operations he needs? Get this done, or lose me forever.

Secondly, reform should address rising costs. An aspirin in the ER doesn't cost $8, and I have a hard time believing that a life-flight helicopter ride costs $15000 when I can pay $100 for a helicopter tour around Vegas. These ridiculous charges are fraudulent, and must be stopped.

Finally, public option or not, reform must promote competition between insurance companies. There are probably many other things reform must address, but these are the issues paramount to me.

I hope that my faith in your sense of calling and general decency is not ill-placed. Please heed my request, and come to the table.

Regards,

Ryan