Health Scare

The debate over the proposed healthcare reform took a turn for the absolute worst when members of the House of Representatives went back to their respective districts to hold town hall meetings with their constituents. Instead of the calm, rational debate we'd been seeing previously, the Congresspeople were bombarded with shouts, violence and, in extreme cases, hanging effigies.

I strongly believe in the First Amendment right of free speech. Our society and our political system has it as a backbone. No one should be silenced if they have something constructive to say and add to the debate. These protesters, however, are not being productive. They are opposing the House bill (there isn't a Senate bill as of yet) calling it Socialized Medicine and, best yet, are berating the Congresspeople for not reading the 1000+ page bill.

First off, people are using the word Socialized too sparingly. Like I said before, there is no take over of Health Care. I raised my concerns in the entry and upon some more research I have found out that even if your employer does decided to enter the Public Option, the individual can take a Government subsidy to keep their private insurance or buy other private insurance. And on the issue of crowding out Private Insurance Companies, President Obama made a poignant point that Fed Ex and UPS are doing just fine competing with USPS.

As far as reading the bill, how would they know if they won't let them explain the bill? And how many people who showed up protesting have read it? I can barely get passed the Table of Contents and I have a drive to do so.