The details of the plan are almost irrelevant. Once we accept that the Federal government has the right to force us to buy whatever kind of insurance policy they decide for us, there is no limit to what they can do. If the Botox lobbyists really put their minds to it, they can get Botox treatments to be required by all insurance plans. When budget and political priorities change, the "if you can't afford it, we'll help you" provisions will get wobbly. The government can define "what you can afford" and "help" however they please. By extension, they can fine us for not exercising or for eating burgers--after all, those things affect our health. All these decisions will be made by powerful members of Congress who only have to please their constituents, not the whole country. This is why Federal power is supposed to be limited.

The President has submitted a "new" health care proposal that relies on two elements to make it work: mandatory purchase of health insurance by all citizens (or a heavy fine if they don't), and taxing the wealthy to help pay for it. Here are my observations on both of these:

A. If a plan is enacted by law that is supposed to be good for all Americans, then ALL Americans should pay for it, not just one segment of it. The idea of taxing just the rich is taken directly from the Marx/Engels socialistic playbook, you know, "from each according to his means, to each according to his need?" (An idea, by the way, that Marx's acolytes NEVER implemented fully; they just took from everybody, rich and poor, gave it to themselves, and then proceeded to kill anyone who objected). This one just reminds me of good ole boy Willie Stark (Robert Penn Warren's fictional characterization of Huey Long in "All The King's Men"); when asked during his gubernatorial campaign how he was going to pay for all his promises, Willie intoned "I'm gonna soak the Fat Boys and spread it out thin!"

That's a pretty good description of what's been coming out of the White House for the past year.

B. As for requiring all Americans to buy health insurance (while subsidizing those who can't afford to) and penalizing those who refuse, clearly, any law that requires anyone to buy something he or she doesn't want WILL NOT SURVIVE CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW! So, right off the bat, a major part of financing this bill will get thrown out, leaving the taxpayers to make up the shortfall through...well, let me see, I'm just spittin' into the wind here...oh, yes, more taxes!

The White House says that the bill does not include a "public option," i.e., a Government-run health insurance plan, yet it increases taxes and penalties on all private health insurers, and restricts what they can do through increased regulation. They make it almost impossible for private insurers to fund their plans and significantly restrict them from passing on increased costs caused by the Federal plan to the insured. In short, the bill will cause the death of most private plans, leaving the people with the Government-run plan as their only option. But then, this was probably the whole point of this exercise right from the beginning!

The political hypocrisy evident in the President's proposal is almost laughable. Two days before the convention of a so-called 'bipartisan' conference of Congressional Democrats and Republicans that he said was critical to the passage of a good health care bill, he puts forth a bill that he knows Republicans will not support, not because they are the 'Party-of-No,' but because they know the People (remember them?) neither like nor want, and then outlines how the Democrats can get it passed with a simple majority vote in Congress through reconciliation. In short, Republicans are going to go into that conference and be presented with a de facto plan and told this is what we are going to do, regardless of what you think! The Conference is dead in the water before it even convenes, and is simply an effort to throw the upcoming Congressional elections the Democrat's way! If the White House does this, and votes out an unpopular bill through 'reconciliation,' this Presidency will be over, and Obama will join the ranks of one-term wonders!

Larry De Meo
N. Potomac, MD

I'm sorry, but the fact that so many Americans are not insured is appaling, we are supposed to be the greatest nation in the world, but we are the only democratic industrialized nation not to provide some form of socialized health care. And the arguments against socialized health care seem to be no more than lies about the length of time it takes to see a doctor or have a procedure done. This simply is not the case.

The worst part is this bickering over health care reforms with the Democrats portraying Republicans as miserly evil people who refuse change, and the Republicans portraying Democrats as a bunch of spend crazy lunatics. The fact is this. Neither side really cares what happens to the American people, they are doing what the campaign contributions payed for, delying health care reform while the insurance companies raise premiums and set record profits.

Enough is enough, we as a nation need to realize that the problem isn't the partisian bickering, it's the politicians themselves. We complain about how bad the politicians are, but we rarely elect new ones to the senate and house. So before you go off about which side is evil on this, and before you say we need to go the Republican route or the Democrat route, realize that the only route that will save us as a nation, is to make our voices as a people heard and remove those from power who are only concerned with making themselves and their sponsors wealthy, at the cost of American lives and livelihoods.

If President Obama is sincerely interested in a bipartisan approach to universal health insurance coverage, why isn't he demanding a hearing of the Healthy Americans Act, sponsored by Wyden (D- Oregon) and Bennett (R-Utah)? Americans deserve better than what's going on now and should call their representatives and demand a hearing of this bill rather than starting from scratch.

Now Republicans can't b---- and whine that they lost the election by several million votes and by even more than that in total votes cast in congressional races so they are being shut out.

My favorite moment was Obama stating that the Republicans were using props (the healthcare bill was a prop, hmmmm. . . I thought that was what they were discussing). Yet his and other dems stories (using dead people’s teeth, his concerns about his daughters if he didnt have insurance) were not props.