A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT -- THE SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL NEEDS TO DIE

I am praying that President Obama gets some guts and stands up for what we all thought he believed in when we forked out our money for his campaign and voted for him. Quite frankly, his performance in the health care bill debacle has been far below the stellar quality of his campaign. The White House seems rudderless, and gutless. Maybe David Plouffe, the miraculous campaign manager for Obama, would have been a far better chief of staff than Rahm Emanuel.

Obama seems to want to pass a bill just to say that he passed a bill. But the Senate version will kill the country as it is written -- yet he fiddles away as if it is the Magna Carta. Whatever happened to the Obama pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class? Why the mandate (which is really socialistic government intrusion in a big time way), when there is no public option to hold down costs? It provides legalized robbery for big insurance. Was that the change we voted for?

I voted for Obama, campaigned for Obama and have defended him vehemently for a couple of years. Now I would like him to do something for us, the ones that voted for him -- not the fat cats who voted for the Republicans. It is all so disappointing. Maybe Hillary would have had the toughness to play this game better than he is playing it. It seems he is mainly sitting on the sidelines, watching others play, while Washington burns with a nasty, ineffective fire.

And Harry Reid!? Don't get me started. What a sellout machine! Nancy Pelosi has more fortitude and cahones than Obama and Reid combined. The Senate Bill is a sellout to Ben Nelson and the insurance companies. It is WORSE than the current state we are in -- and I did not think that could be!

The Democrats need leaders, not weak-kneed doormats. The Republicans are horrendous - they do absolutely nothing. But in this case, nothing would be better than the toxic spill that is this Senate bill.

Part of the problem are the antiquated Senate rules -- definitely not fully democratic and surely not right for our times. Just like the electoral college, it makes the whole country hostage to small states and smaller minds. All the lobbyists need to do is pick off a few small state senators and they can write all kinds of "legal" atrocities upon the American people into a bill.

At this rate, the federal government is far from being functional, and it may never be so. Perhaps we would be more effective with a less centralized, state-based system, with only certain things like defense under the federal umbrella. Maybe the Republicans would be for that, and it would be better for the people to have decisions made more locally.

What is sad is that the TEA PARTY crazies were actually right about some things. They went over the top with their protests, but at heart they were right on the way the Senate bill has been constructed. With its abominable cuts in Medicare for the elderly (like hospice and home health care), and its allowing insurance companies to charge up to 300 per cent more for the elderly, it IS AGAINST OLDER PEOPLE in many ways. And it is loaded with new taxes for regular folks. THE SENATE BILL MUST DIE!

Jane Hamsher put it wonderfully at Firedoglake.com:If you read this you will have to contact your Senator to vote against this monstrous bill.

"Top 10 Reasons to Kill Senate Health Care Bill

1.Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not.

2.If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS.

3.Many will be forced to buy poor-quality insurance they can't afford to use, with $11,900 in annual out-of-pocket expenses over and above their annual premiums.

4.Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.

5.Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays.

6.Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins.

7.Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others.

8.Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market.

9.No re-importation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years.

10.The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1,000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, your family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now.

Background information on each point:

1.Hardship Waiver And Restrictions On Immigrants Buying Insurance Undercut Arguments For An Individual Mandate, by Jon Walker

2.What's in the Manager's Amendment by David Dayen

3.MyBarackObama Tax by Marcy Wheeler

4.Emperor Ben Nelson: All Your Uteruses Are Belong To Me by Scarecrow

5.The Senate Bill is Designed to Make Your Health Insurance Worse by Jon Walker

6.Best way to "Fix It Later" Is With No Individual Mandate Now by Jon Walker

7.The Senate Health Care Bill is Built on a Mountain of Sand by Jon Walker

8.The Devil in Anna Eshoo's Details by Jane Hamsher

9.Liveblog of the Dorgan Reimportation Amendment by David Dayen

10.Answering Nate Silver's 20 Questions on the Health Care Bill by Jon Walker Senate bill isn't a "starter home," it's a sink hole. It needs to die so something else can take its place. It doesn't matter whether people are on the right or the left -- once they understand the con job that's about to be foisted on them, they agree. That's why Harry Reid and President Obama are trying to jam it through as fast as they can, before people get wise. So email the list to your friends and family, tweet it and spread the word.