CONGRESS AND THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES.

Health Care reform still hangs over Congress like the sword of Damocles, as the House of Representatives Democrats struggle to come up with the votes for their plan which will reflect “Obama’s goals of extending health coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and putting tough new restrictions on insurance companies.”

In the Senate chamber, Majority Leader Harry Reid has been encountering a stiff opposition from Republican members, urging him to postpone a vote on the Senate proposals for a plan that would inculcate into the minds of his colleagues that the idea of Public Option was an absolute necessity for a real reform of a balanced health care insurance overhaul to be achieved.
Otherwise, there would be no change whatsoever in the health care system; the situation would remain the same, when insurance companies could impose their will on it (system), and to continue to maintain their stranglehold on the health care industry.

It is true that the vote on the 10-year, $1.2 trillion legislation will be critical, as a number of members on the Democratic side are reluctant to join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in bringing the vote count to a number that will win them the majority on the House floor. It has even been planned for President Obama to make a personal appeal to the Democratic rank and file on a special visit to Capitol Hill today, Friday (11/06/09), but it has to be put off, due to the Fort Hood crisis in Texas.

The vote is crucial, and action on the plan has been delayed, waiting for the Congressional Budget Office “to weigh in on the bill”; and although its final costs over 10 years are in the trillions, considering its dollar amount, it will provide the maximum amount of coverage up to 96% of the insured, as opposed to the “new” Republican plan that favors the insurance companies, by only providing the maximum coverage of 83% of the population.

In that plan, several millions of people will be left out, and their only recourse will be flooding the Emergency Rooms in hospitals around the country. They will be cared for, either way, so why not include them in the “new” plan now?

That question is so baffling, it boggles the mind just as much; but it also goes to show where some legislators stand in times of crisis like this one.

Trashing out the stumbling blocks, which are the abortion and the illegal alien questions, can be handled to exclude them from the bill by the use of language that will satisfy some “Blue dog” lawmakers and buffer the criticism of the opposition. Otherwise, it is high time for the bill to “fly”. It has attracted the support of the AARP and the American Medical Association, and all it requires is a few more votes that will translate it into a full-fledged legislation that can be signed into law by the president.

Remove the political sword of Damocles and allow Congress to breathe freely, to be able to bring this chapter of uncertainty in the country to a close; with the giving of votes for a resounding victory of the Democratic health care plan; at least on the House of Representatives side

The whole nation awaits its outcome on this cool, calm Friday morning; despite the Fort Hood violent incident.

P.S. To whom it may concern.