Click on the link to read the health care reform bill.
It is 1018 pages and is guaranteed to put you to sleep every night for the next 1018 days.
It has yet to be published in its final form and it appears to continue to grow. I have seen numbers as high as 12oo pages. So please don't ask us to read it and demand that we find what is wrong with it. I have a full time job and a part time job to attend to, so I have no choice but to leave the judgment to the experts.
Consider the following problem I have in my teaching.
Students invariably turn homework in late. It is a monumental hassle to grade late homework, so I take off points as a deterrent. In some egregious cases, students turn in late homework even after the last deadline is past, and even after classes have finished. I can't grade such homework before the grade submission deadline. Nevertheless, such students often complain saying "I worked so hard and turned in all my homework! Why did I get a D?"
What is a teacher to do? Just accept the big stack of late homework and assume all the answers are correct? Any teacher would say "forget it!" and not give any points.
This is what the Democrats are asking us to do. Check every last detail of this rush, rush 1000+ page bill, and when he public doesn't like the rush, the Democrats complain "We worked so hard and we passed the bill before recess. Why are we getting a D?"
4 comments:
I see your point but I find drawing parallels in the blog discussions usually doesn't work. Someone always claims the apples to apples arguement.
I certainly don't expect anyone to read the entire bill or to fight through legalese. I do expect us all to listen to experts. But shifting through the propaganda from both sides clouds the entire affair. We all pick whom we listen to. The bill IS being read. It IS being analyzed page by page. Those who are doing the reading then interpret for us. How do we know who is interpreting the most honestly? That Senators and Congressman whine and complain that it is too long, I say baloney! They have staff both paid and volunteers unpaid who do that work for them on every bill. For heaven sakes, I am supposed to believe a Congressman or a Senator just can't wrap their little heads around it when it is their full time jobs to do so, when they have staff for that purpose? That THEY do not have the time doesn't work as an excuse for me. I fully understand that the common woman and man may not have either the time or the training.
I just wanted to know what in the bill is so upsetting? Certainly those of us who don't like it will be able to say what it is that is so upsetting.
What I do understand clearly is that the price of the bill is disconcerting even frightening. I also understand that some feel that it is being rushed and not carefully examined. Those are valid concerns about price and timeline. I do not hear anyone expressing specific points of the bill that displease. That is what I am asking to know.
Knowing what is in the bill is precisely why we need more time. It is being written behind closed doors by Democrat staffs, and then being rushed to the floor for a vote. The stimulus bill is one such example. Senators and Representatives alike got on the bandwagon saying, "it must be done now or the sky will fall!" As yet, only a small amount of the 'stimulus money' has been spent, so what was all the hurry then? I am always, always suspicious of rushed legislation. Such legislation always appears to be rushed so as to avoid close public examination. Even large staffs require time to read and analyze.
OK, I am perfectly willing to wait to the next session if info on the bill is not being satisfactorily vetted. But I will be very disappointed if it is not given attention and a more honest analysis after more time has passed.
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