Keep quiet, or else

I never imagined that there would come a time in our nation’s history when Americans would be prohibited from free speech.

Sadly, that’s what is taking place right now in our country. The most sickening part is that this assault on our freedoms is being conducted not by some extremist group or foreign force, but rather by our own government.

Instead of lending a sympathetic ear to some of America’s largest companies, the White House has sent a different message — keep quiet or else. Shut up and stop causing trouble. Don’t they, too, want the health care reform legislation to succeed, even at all costs?

Liberal California Congressman Henry Waxman, chairman of the very powerful Commerce Committee, has issued subpoenas to President Obama’s most vocal critics and called the CEOs of AT&T, Caterpillar, Verizon, Valero Energy, Deere and several others to Capitol Hill on April 21 to defend their statements regarding the financial effects of the health care reform bill on their companies.

These are Fortune 500 companies, some of the best and largest in our country. As unbelievable as this may sound, it is exactly what began to unfold several weeks ago. These companies disclosed in their public filings that as a result of the new health care reform legislation, their companies would be burdened with extreme expenses.

Under law, private, publicly traded corporations are required to disclose unusual expenses on a quarterly basis. AT&T was particularly outraged over a provision in the bill that would end President Bush’s 2003 tax break for companies that allowed retirees to continue their prescription drug coverage rather than forcing them to use Medicare prescription drug coverage. The new bill ends this tax break, costing AT&T about $1 billion.