That bill. Sigh.

I've admired and respected Rep. Louise Slaughter for a long time now. This morning she offers a short (sane) statement about the health care mess. It's published over on Alternet. Here's some of it:

Even though the House version is far from perfect, it at least represents a step toward our goal of giving 36 million Americans decent health coverage.

But under the Senate plan, millions of Americans will be forced into private insurance company plans, which will be subsidized by taxpayers. That alternative will do almost nothing to reform health care but will be a windfall for insurance companies. Is it any surprise that stock prices for some of those insurers are up recently?

I do not want to subsidize the private insurance market; the whole point of creating a government option is to bring prices down. Insisting on a government mandate to have insurance without a better alternative to the status quo is not true reform.

By eliminating the public option, the government program that could spark competition within the health insurance industry, the Senate has ended up with a bill that isn't worthy of its support.

I do recommend that you go on over and read the whole thing. Taking a look at the comments after the article might also be valuable.
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UPDATE: My goodness. Here's a curse worthy of the name. I found it in the comments:

What should be done is to suspend health coverage for every sorry ass Senator and Rep until they can fulfil the sustainable health needs of the nation that they supposedly serve.

Let the bastards experience non-coverage. Let them watch their children languish in untreated illness. Let them sell everything that they've worked a lifetime to own in an attempt to save a loved-one's life.

Let them live on the street in the cold, and die in a gutter.Let them eternally burn in Hell listening to Lieberman.

Ha! That last one made me laugh!
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