This Bill Is Not Worth Passing

Ok, ok, so I lied, I couldn't keep myself away completely. I just had to blog again. Anyway, after reading the pro's and con's and listening to hours of chatter on the radio, I've decided that I will not be supporting this health care bill, and I don't care if it costs us seats in the house, the senate, and quite frankly, I don't care if it costs Obama his job.
That's right...I honestly and truthfully don't give a damn. Here's why: the current bill is an absolute travesty. This bill somehow manages to turn health care reform into a boon for the insurance industry. It requires that all uncovered Americans buy health insurance from the existing insurance companies--now, granted, there are caps on the amount people have to pay based on their yearly earnings. This might be OK, if other provisions had been included, like stripping insurance companies of their anti-trust exemption, or including the amount employers have to pay for insurance on employee pay stubs, so that people can see just how much their plan actually costs...and possibly consider whether they'd rather see a portion of that in their take home pay. OR if the bill included the now infamous public option, which would be a government run plan designed to compete with the insurance industry. But the current bill doesn't include any of these things, and now senator Bill Nelson (D-Nebraksa) is throwing a fit about abortion, so who knows...maybe the final bill will revoke Roe v. Wade as well.
The point is, this bill is so watered down, and contains so many concessions to the insurance company, we are better off if it doesn't pass. Sure, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of the Republican idiots will celebrate this as a victory against Obama, but it won't change the inevitable, the thing that apparently really needs to happen before we can get real reform in this country: people need to be worse off. The problems that we face are not bad enough for people to take notice or care.
And the fact is, without reform, things will get worse...much much worse. People are suffering, and dying, and that isn't enough for Republicans or conservative Democrats at this point, so I guess that has to go on. Passing this bill won't make a damn bit of difference in that aspect at this point--better to let the dam burst and build a new one that to throw a shitty patch job together for the sake of saving face. If that costs Democrats their jobs, good. We're better off at this point with people doing harm to our society than waffling over doing what's right.