What do you guys think about the whole Healthcare debate?

[Franzl]

Agree with everyone else who has posted in this thread. The only effective way to really control costs is with some type of public healthcare. ObamaCare is only better than not having ObamaCare (and this is a big plus, of course) because it ensures that a lot of people that currently get their primary care through the ER will have access to proper health insurance. (Now getting people out of the ERs will have a certain effect on cost, too, of course...but it's still not nearly enough.)

[Franzl]

Unfortunately, Obamacare was shoved through without much thought in the end, when the Dems lost their 60 votes in the Senate, because they knew the window for just doing it was closing. We will live with the negative consequences for some time I suspect.

But to answer the question, yes team Pelosi "herded" with considerable talent.

I think ObamaCare is poorly organized as well, but can it really be argued that the status quo is preferable to it?

I know if you were in charge, we'd get some nice privately run efficient universal system that I'd support....but do the political realities in the U.S. allow something noble like that?

The United States Senate, and it's stupid 60 vote requirement at present, force several interests to compete with each other, and the only way to reach a supermajority on anything of importance is to give everyone a bone.

I wish we had a nice majority parliamentarian system, too, Torie....but if a President and two majorities in Congress can't even pass something simple like a public option, I'm not all that optimistic.