The Democrats have been politically stupid. People want reform, but what reform means to most people at all levels of income (below the most affluent) is making health care and coverage more affordable. Rather than focus on affordability -- which would serve the interest of everyone including the uninsured, the Democrat's have adopted a welfare model that asks most middle class people to pay for insuring others without receiving any relief from their own already too high health care burden. In fact, both their tax and health care burdens are projected to be higher.

Under the Senate plan, for instance, someone purchasing their own insurance, a small business or self-employed person, earning $88,000 a year and paying $20,000 in yearly premium cost (that's just premium cost, not medical costs which, with deductibles and co-pays, etc., could end up being much higher) for a family of four -- more than 1/5th of their family income -- will not qualify for subsidy but will see their health care cost rise. (If you think $20,000 a year is unrealistic, think again. My husband and I purchase our own insurance and we pay barely under $20,000 for just the two of us -- with a high deductible, no frills plan. We do not have dental or vision coverage.)

I think most people want to see universal coverage and, like me, have no objection to paying taxes to achieve that. But, they want those taxes to support a system that offers EVERYONE affordable, dependable access to health care when they need it. Without premiums that eat up too high a percentage of a business or family's resources and yet, because of co-pays, deductibles and inadequate coverage, still leaves them vulnerable to bankruptcy if serious illness does strike.

In theory it's true.  The theory was the stimulus and the bailouts would keep employment below 9%.  We all saw how that worked out.

Just because it might work isn't a reason to take such a gamble and give so much control to the government.  I've long argued they are all ready too involved in healthcare and are part of the problem.  Giving them more control will not help the economy.

There is a long list of government programs and bills that where supposed to make things better and almost all of them fail miserably.