Congress returns to Washington soon, and the stage is set for the biggest political war in decades. On one side stand the Democrats, who are fighting to lay the groundwork for the liberals’ Holy Grail — a single-payer health care system. Their centerpiece is the public option, subsidized by taxpayers, which would ultimately become the only option. Private health insurance companies would go all but extinct.

On the other side stand millions of Americans who reject this Democratic assault on health care freedom. Across the country, outraged citizens, deeply distrustful of the government, are speaking out at town hall meetings. The Obama administration figured it had neutralized serious opposition through negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry and the American Medical Association. They never imagined that ordinary citizens would rise up and demand that Washington stop the financial insanity.

The projected cost of ObamaCare, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is about $1.6 trillion. That is unaffordable. We already have a national debt of $11.7 trillion, and President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget says the debt will grow by $9 trillion over the next decade. That will push the national debt over $20 trillion.

We are speeding toward an economic train wreck, with extremely dire implications for our way of life, our national security and our kids’ future. Even Warren Buffett, an Obama supporter, warned recently that the United States risks becoming a banana republic. With Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid headed for insolvency, it would border on madness to launch another gigantic federal entitlement program.

ObamaCare also will kill jobs — more than 4 million of them, according to Obama’s own economic adviser. And just this month came news that the Canadian single-payer system is on the verge of implosion. It’s going broke.

For northern Maine, the ObamaCare damage could be profound. The plan’s $500 billion cut in Medicare spending will affect all Maine seniors, especially the 10,709 of them in the 2nd Congressional District who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage. ObamaCare as detailed in HR 3200 threatens the survival of that Medicare option.

Hospital cuts in the 2nd District would start at $438 million, according to the American Hospital Association. And the American Health Care Association says skilled nursing facilities in our district could lose as much as $155 million.

Unfortunately, economic reality doesn’t matter to the single-payer zealots, who have been waiting for this moment of total government control to make their big move. We will all pay the price if they succeed.

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