Even Dems Don't Want Obamacare

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her democratic congressional chums have passed the healthcare reform bill conservatives are calling, "Obamacare." The late author Douglas Adams might have opted for a change to the slogan of his satirical novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to read, "Ok, now you can panic."

Sunday evening, CNN quoted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who suggested the legislation would "unleash tremendous entrepreneurial power into our economy." As with many of Pelosi's public statements, nothing could be more inaccurate.

Most of what this bill does is raise taxes, put additional strain on employers already struggling to provide benefits for workers and help pacify the special interests of the insurance industry by forcing Americans to buy more private insurance. There is also a great deal of the bill that has nothing at all to do with healthcare.

Back in the 1970's, there was a Saturday morning ABC Schoolhouse Rock song called, "I'm Just a Bill." Sung by an animated bill that had been sent to congress for a vote, the song told the story of how a bill becomes a law through the eyes of the actual document. While educational, the fairy-tale story of how the legislative process works left out a few steps.

A bill up for vote often goes through hundreds of revisions, sometimes taking years to complete and spanning thousands of pages in its final draft. Some things that end up in the bill often have nothing to do with the original purpose of the legislation.

If the White House needs congress to approve a controversial bill like Obamacare, for example, they have to grease some palms, so to speak. They accomplish this through back-room deals and handshake promises to add or remove certain items to sweeten the pot

Pet projects that might otherwise never get to the house floor can be slipped into the thousands of lines in an unrelated piece of legislation and passed into law without anyone ever being aware that it happened. There are times, however, when it isn't that easy and entirely new drafts of the documents have to be written to amend a resolution that has already passed through one branch of congress in order to get the other side to go along with it.

In order to reel in the votes of democrats who were balking at the Healthcare Reform bill passed by the Senate, a second bill, called the Reconciliation Act of 2010, had to be drafted to amend it so that the House could secure a majority vote. In doing so, many unrelated sections of legislation were added or the wording was altered.

Section 1408 of the Reconciliation Act is, "an elimination of unintended application of cellulosic biofuel producer credit." Sections 2001 through 2214 have to do with college funding and student loan reform. Why is this in a healthcare reform bill? It's there because this is how the game is played in "the Beltway."

It is a sure bet that no one, not even the great and powerful Pelosi, has read this bill in full. It is more 395,000 words long and has gone through over 1,000 revisions since it was introduced in November of last year.

Experts say that the overwhelming requirements to be enacted on small business will force many to lay off workers just to cover the costs. This pointless piece of legislation is little more than a political stunt serving no one but insurance company stock holders and the few people in America who have guaranteed healthcare for life - the United States Congress.

Once again, self-gratification seems to be this president's only goal. As one of the only campaign promises President Obama has even come close to keeping, this healthcare bill is not reform but an advancement of democratic beaurocracy.

The people who will suffer the most from this new legislation are the very people it is intended to help. America's poor and working families have always been pawns of partisan politics and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Washington elite will enjoy the best healthcare in the world at the expense of the American people while doing nothing but patting themselves on the back for their political prowess.

Read the full text of both the Healthcare Reform Bill and the Reconciliation Act of 2010 online at www.gerydeer.com.