Does it bother you that Congress has not read the Health Care Bill?

I wasn't saying that it is okay to be disengaged from the process, I would hope that each representative has advisors who are reading the bills and keeping them up to date. They should also be offering their input. It just annoys me a little the the "Have you read the bill" line is a gottcha phrase that has no basis in reality.

But how can they guarantee us such things as being able to keep our own health insurance? Or that illegal immigrants won't be covered? or that abortion won't be publicly funded? or any of the other myriad of things they are claiming if they don't have a final bill. The wording on each of the bills is likely different on some of those components, so how can they tell us those things, when none of the versions are yet final, and expect us to believe that what they are saying is definitely what will be in the final bill? (This doesn't even take in to consideration all the amendments that have been defeated for trying to clarify some of those very issues.) Shouldn't they all get together and decide what the final bill is going to be first? Then they can come to us and tell us with some certainty that "This is what the bill does." Again, assuming they take the time to read it before they open their mouths.

I agree with you that there have been a lot of amendments done to the bill, and rewriting of certain sections, to such an extent that we don't really have a final draft yet. However, that being said, there would never have been any amendments to this bill if it weren't for American Patriots who took the time to read the bill either in parts or its entirety. The President was trying to ram this bill through without knowing what it included. Back in 2004, Barrack Obama in an interview spoke about just this principle. He said that bad pieces of legislation like the Patriot Act are easily passed all the time by simply pushing it forward quickly before anyone has a chance to read it. He knows the principle. The politicians have no right to refuse to read legislation they are going to be voting on. If they refuse to read it, they should not be allowed to vote on it. Plain and simple. The fact is, most of the Democrats in favor of this bill have refused to read it. The original version and subsequent versions as well. And despite the fact that they want to sneak it through and force it on us, these same people do not want to be covered under this plan. The Republicans tried to put a bill through which said that Congress would be subject to the same health care plan as everyone else. It went down 11-10--not one democrat in favor of the bill voted for this. This kind of corruption has everyone angry. When the final draft of the bill becomes available, which should be real soon, Congress should read it. And if they still continue to refuse, we should take down their names and vote them out.

I believe he was talking about CONGRESS being a MOB. Gangsters...even.

Faikeijames, I offer you my sincere apology. I guess I've been hearing the American people who attend these town halls a mob so much, I got carried away and took it out of context. You are so right, the Congress is the biggest mob these days, trying to shut all dissenters up. Thanks so much for your comment. Again, I am really sorry about my blunder.

If being a mob you mean honest, patriotic Americans standing up to their corrupt government and demanding answers, than okay. Yes, a lot of people are angry and some of them are shouting and getting a little unruly, but I don't think this is even close to being a mob. The media portrays us this way to try to disregard us. We are nothing. We are window dressing. A bunch of crazy people. I haven't seen one town hall meeting where someone was physically beating someone up, starting fires, holding white supremacist signs or the like. And believe me, if this had ever happened it would be on the news. When the democrats were protesting against George Bush, in some of these cases they were starting fires and being physically abusive. But the media said they were earnest Americans protesting against the Bush Administration. They weren't described as mobs. I am sick of the double standard in the media.

mrb I totally agree with you, but the same goes how can you say you are against without reading the bill? With the nay sayers it concerns me just a little bit more than the ones that think that we need reform. The ones that want to pass a bill will be more open to talking about differences, the ones opposing the bill seem to be sitting on a high horse thinking there is nothing wrong and not open for discussion. This is just my outlook on the situation. I am really trying to see it from both sides but when all the repubs disagree with something they have never read it really scares the crap out of me and for all those that are in nned of health insurance. I say just come together and come with something in the middle that will satify most americans.

Absolutely. One of the reasons I didn't vote for a few years in my young adulthood was that I wasn't informed. I was going to school and wasn't really keeping up with issues with the way I should have. I think this is common when you are 20. The point is I could have just gone in and voted anyway. Just vote for who my friends or family were voting for. It would have been the easy thing to do. But it still wouldn't have made it right. I think when we vote on something, whether it is us the American citizens or politicians, we should be making informed choices. We should know what we are voting on, otherwise we may be doing something that may have negative consequences, not just for us but for future generations. Being a responsible voter and/or a politician is a great responsibility that I think too many people take for granted.

gramma, The fact it is the Republicans who are reading the bill and quoting right from it. It is the democrats who are corrupt who absolutely have refused. It is the conservatives who tried to get everyone to agree to read the bill but the democrats dug in their heels. You are right that if you haven't read it, no matter your political affiliation, you really have no right to be for or against it.This is wrong. As for the Conservatives being in the way of change, that is incorrect. The conservatives admit there needs to be reform. There are problems with the current system. But overall, it is a good system. We shouldn't completely destroy it and start from the ground up. You don't burn your house down simply because you don't like the layout of a couple of the rooms. You renovate. That's what we need to do. We have the best health care system in the world. People come here from all over because they don't have access to the care we have. No matter what your opinion on the matter, the American people need to have a say in it. It concerns me a lot more when I see government officials trying to ram legislation down our throat without proper time to evaluate it. It's wrong whoever does it. It was wrong when George Bush rushed through the Patriot Act and other legislation. We need to call out government corruption on both sides.

It's scary the people Obama is putting in positions underneath him. It is too bad the American people didn't seem to care to explore his past. The church he attended for over twenty years, his associations with criminals were somehow all unimportant. Now we are paying for this.

Now that is an amazing idea. If they vote themselves raises, they can vote themselves out.

I agree with you 100 percent! It is dangerous when legislation is signed into law with no one aware of what is actually in them. For all we know, we could one day end up signing our rights as a country away. There are several politicians that are for the New World Order, including Barack Obama and Ex-President George Bush and who knows who else. This abuse of power is exactly what the founding fathers wanted to prevent. The reason there they didn't have a clause which had reading bills as a requirement was probably because these people were honorable and had common sense, something today's politicians surely lack. Imagine having to tell someone to read something before they vote for it! Love that additional clause you would add to this Bill Reading Law-when can we set it up?

I agree with you that this screaming and not letting the person heading the town hall meeting to talk is disruptive and counterproductive. I think it is a product of pent of frustration from politicians not wanting to listen to the American people but it is still wrong. I have seen news footage and for the most part there have not been many cases of this. This has been exaggerated by the liberal left wing media. But in the cases where this exists we should condemn it. We should be respectful so that a meaningful debate can go on and not shut the other side off. This goes for both sides. What is wrong for one, is wrong for the other. Thanks for the mention of the FactCheck site. Did you mean FactCheck.org. When I did a search this was the only one that came up. FactCheck.org came up on my Firfox system as a dishonest website be weary of, so I am assuming you simply typed it in incorrectly. If I am wrong, let me know. I learned a lot on FactCheck but there is still something I am a little weary of. In the original health care bill there are several phrases used, like end of life counseling, which are absolutely not defined. Yet FactCheck was absolutely able to say this doesn't mean euthanasia or encouraging old people to forgo treatment. I am not saying this is what it meant, but since it isn't defined, how can anyone say one way or another? I know this is a moot point now since this clause was taken out, but my point is that lawyers are slick. They don't clearly spell things out for a reason. So things are left open. So later someone can sue about something and a judge can then impose his own interpretation of what was meant. So while I am going to check out FactCheck when the final draft of the bill is released, I am still going to read the bill so I can see for myself. We need to use common sense and not always just accept what someone else tells us. We have spent our lives trusting our politicians, but since they are not looking out for us, we need to look out for ourselves.

At least Bill Clinton listened to the American people. He wanted to put through something that was in the best interest of the American people, and if they spoke up, he decided to change gears. I think this is admirable. The president and Congress are not suppose to be our dictators, they are suppose to be working for us. We should not be in fear of our government, which is exactly what happens when our politicians rush through legislation. Instead of calling concerned Americans names, they should be listening and responding to us appropriately. I agree with you that this might just end up being a failure, since I can't see the majority of these politicians changing their minds about reading this legislation. I do think that the Obama is going to make one last ditch effort to try to ram this bil through though for there are enough Democrats to pass it if they are able to be convincing enough to those opposed. I am glad that their are some Democrats who have enough integrity to say that this is wrong. Party politics is corrupt. In all fairness though, the bill is very difficult to understand. That's another beef I have with it. Write it in language that everyone can understand. I think it is written in this complex way on purpose. If we don't understand it, how can we fight it?

You are right. Much of this is due to extreme political pressure. Obama is telling them it's a great bill and it should signed into law as soon as possible. Many in Congress trust him blindly. It's too bad they don't see this is the road to tyranny. Anything could be placed into these bills, anything at all. We should keep close watch over how those in Congress deal with not only this health care bill but others as well. If they are not doing their job and looking out for us, we should vote them out.

It is all about power. Politicians are out for their own agendas, with little regard for the American people. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in a situation where we would have to demand the reading of the health care bill or any bill for that matter! The American people are beginning to wake up to what our politicians have been doing all these years and it is disgusting! It can't be business as usual anymore or we are going to lose our country. Freedom is not free. Many in our country have been so used to this being a free country that they take it for granted. Most don't question our politicians and the ones that do you are labeled paranoid radicals. Government needs to answer to us. Ever noticed that when politicians are asked a question they don't like they just avoid it. They give an answer that has nothing to do with what is asked. This drives me crazy. Why would someone do this? Because they are being deceptive, trying to cover up an answer that they know will upset others. Why so many don't think matters through is a mystery to me.

The bill is a mess! That's why so much of it is going to need to be amended. Problem is, the only ones that are to amended are those we have been able to understand. Ninety percent of this thing is complete garbage, open to the interpretation of any person reading it. Which makes it doubly dangerous. I certainly don't want something passed where government can end up doing whatever they think is best, especially given all the radicals Obama has placed in his cabinet. I certainly don't trust lawyers either. I personally think the whole bill should be dumped and they start over, which might end up happening if Obama can't ram this through. I pray he can't.