Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch cut to the core of the debate over health care insurance when he observed that the Democrats' real motive is to "move people into government."

It's "a step-by-step approach to socialized medicine," he said. "And if they get there, of course, you're going to have a very rough time having a two-party system in this country because almost everybody's going to say, 'All we ever were, all we ever are, all we ever hope to be depends on the Democratic Party.' "

The CNSNews.com interviewer added, "They'll have reduced the American people to dependency on the federal government?"

Hatch continued, "Yeah, you got that right. That's their goal. That's what keeps Democrats in power."

Some voices on the left said that Hatch was merely trying to protect his own party. But the point should be made as often as possible by all thinking people: If the government controls your health care, they control you. You're no longer free; you've entered serfdom.

Hatch was right, there won't be a two party system -- with one party opposing government -- because there won't be anything that can oppose the government. It will be too intrusive to expel and too big to fight.

The sheer size of Government will expand dramatically. According to House Republicans, the Democrats' current health bill will set up 111 new bureaucracies. Moreover, with the Obama administration moving to control industry and finance, scooping up the medical industry will mean ruling the American economy. The takeover of everything else will be merely a mopping-up operation.

The other side says that the left is just trying to protect average people. Sadly, it long ago pawned ideals for power. Look at the debates in Washington. Big corporations have been frantically bidding for favors under proposed health plans -- and often getting them from the Obama administration and Congress.

Meanwhile, the little guy is being set up to pay the bills. The House bill, for instance, establishes 13 new taxes that would hit people at all economic levels. There's even a "medicine cabinet tax" that would prevent people from buying non-prescription medicine with their health savings accounts.

Or look at the Senate health bill. It supposedly caps what lower- and middle-income folks would pay for health insurance. But according to Kaiser Health News, an insurance industry voice, those caps won't stay on for long. Like the old bait-and-switch, the government is likely to switch any caps from a percentage of income to a percentage of insurance premiums.

Those costs are almost guaranteed to soar under ObamaCare -- beyond what many families could pay, regardless of income.

And remember, you will have no choice but to pay: Health insurance would be mandatory, no matter what you make.

Or look at another scheme: a tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance plans. It would only milk the rich, right? Wrong. Ordinary people who work for companies with generous benefits could be affected.

Moreover, these "Cadillac" taxes are lined to health costs. As above, those costs are primed to jump. Thus, more and more people would find their plans being taxed. Ten years from now, the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation has concluded, about one out of every three health insurance plans would get socked with this extra tax.

As liberal pundit Harold Myerson of The Washington Post said, "Last time I looked, a third of American motorists were not driving Cadillacs."

Oh, but the Democrat plans are designed to protect senior citizens! Funny, isn't it, that Medicare spending would be slashed by $500 billion. And the AARP supports this. For shame.

Ah, well, but future generations will have more hope. Again wrong. Younger workers will get to watch their insurance premiums soar 69 percent above what they pay now.

These are just a few nuggets gleaned from thousands of pages of legislative mumbo-jumbo that elected representatives haven't even read. It's a sure bet there's plenty more hidden in those bills that will sock ordinary people with higher health costs and degraded health care.

This debate really isn't about Republican Party obstinacy; it's about the Democratic Party. In its decay, it has abandoned its defense of ordinary people while feverishly selling what's left of its soul to the highest bidder.

Utah Rep. Jim Matheson should think long and hard about this. The plans do not uphold traditional Democrat ideals but instead betray them.

Sen. Orrin Hatch

Phone: (202) 224-5251

Online: http://OrrinHatch.notlong.com.

Sen. Bob Bennett

Phone: (202) 224-5444

Online: http://BobBennett.notlong.com.

Rep. Jim Matheson

Phone: (202) 225-3011

Online: http://RepMatheson.notlong.com