Senate Says Health Plan Will Cover Another 31 Million

The Democratic leaders from the Senate released their proposal for the health care bill on Wednesday. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said that imposed new regulations on insurers would help to extend coverage to 31 million people who do not have any benefits and it will add benefits to Medicare. The bill will cost $848 billion over a ten year span, but it would help to reduce the original projected budget deficits by $130 billion over ten years. The costs would be offset by new taxes and other revenue than by reduction in Medicare. The Democrats are confident that they will have the votes necessary to pass the bill. The bill needs all the Democratic votes and the 2 independents votes. The Republicans are still ready to fight the bill all the way. The name of the bill is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Though the Senate bill is similar to the House bill there are some differences. For one the Senate bill "would increase the Medicare payroll tax on high-income people and impose a new excise tax on high-cos "Cadillac health plans'". Both bills would have a voluntary federal program to provide long-term health care. Twenty four million people would still be uninsured in 2019, one third of them would be illegal immigrants. Under the bill people will be required to have health insurance and if they don't than they can be fined.

In my opinion there should be no health care bill. I hope that the Senate doesn't pass it. If the bill is passed than my generation will have many problems in the future regarding healthcare. The amount that the government wants to spend on the bill is way too much. Even with their proposed healthcare plan there will still be millions of people who are uninsured in a couple of years. It isn't worth it. Not to mention the fact that the bill, if passed, wouldn't be put into affect until after Obamas first four years. That means that if he isn't reelected than the new president would be responsible for carrying out something that he or she may not want or believe in.

Investigation into Fort Hood Shooting

Senator Joe Lieberman announced that there will be a congressional investigation into the shooting at Fort Hood. Lieberman also stated that the attack could qualify as a "terrorist act". Joe Lieberman chairs the Senate Committee on homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He said that there were warning signs and if they were noticed the Army should have been gone. The public has been told not to rush to conclusions because all the reports of warning signs are so far only speculation. The attack left 13 dead and 29 wounded. The gunman is currently being treated a a military hospital. His family members speculate that he was trying to avoid his deployment to Afghanistan.
In my opinion it was a terrorist attack. There are so many other ways that Major Nidal Malik Hasan could have delayed his deployment without hurting anyone other than possibly himself. The Army, as well as all the other military branches, should have a no tolerance policy.

Health Care Bill Passes Through House

The Democrats have received a victory in their fight to pass the new Health Care Bill into law. The House of Representation narrowly passed the Bill with a vote of 220-215. The Democrats needed 218 votes to have the Bill be passed. There were 219 Democrats who voted for and 39 who voted against, as well as 1 Republican who voted for the Bill. The real difficulty comes now, the Senate also has to pass the Bill. If the Senate passes it then the Bill must be rewritten and voted for once again by both parts of Congress. Democrats cheered when the legislation was passed. The House has also passed an amendment to pending health care legislation that prohibits federal funds for abortion services in the public option. The only exceptions would be cases of rape, incest or if the mother's life is in danger.
In my opinion I am upset that the legislation was passed through the House. I am not in favor of the Health Care plan because I know that it won't do any good. The Republican National Committee released a statement that I am in total agreement with. They said, "... a government-run health care experiment that will increase families health care costs, increase the deficit, increase taxes on small businesses and the middle class, and cut Medicare". There plan will eventually bring more harm than good. I am glad that the the Bill barely passed because it means that there are almost as many against as for, which will mean that the Senate should also have a difficult time passing it. I hope that they can't. Another thing that I am happy with is the legislation that the government will not pay for abortions, with a few exceptions that I kind of agree with.