The Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act is now law. It took bribery, arm twisting and various threats, but the Dems corralled enough votes to pass this outrageous behemoth of 2700 pages [that no one has read including those who voted for it] .
Of the Eleven House of Representatives members, now known as the 'Stupak 11', who were put under intense pressure to vote for the bill, five are now are asking for additional earmarked funds for their district. A billion here a billion there.
The battle is not over, however:
In a typically sneaky move,the House also passed another bill amending the main bill and this bill now goes to the Senate ,where Repubs will try to filibuster to talk it to death. The Dems will try a tactic called reconciliation to avoid the filibuster stall.
Here the wicket gets sticky because the bill provides the use of Social Security tax increase which is prohibited under the reconciliation rules. Other provisions that do not directly affect the budget will cause challenges.
If the Senate changes anything in the bill [which they will], it will have to go back to the House to have the same debate and problems as before.
As no one has read the entire healthcare bill, there has been no study of it's myriad provisions: help with student loans, an airport here and there, several new regulatory agencies,new staffing requirements, language to prevent fraud etc.
As this study progresses, there is certain to be legal challenges to part of the law and
legal efforts to have the entire package declared unconstitutional.
So we're stuck with a law that the majority of people doe not want or need, will probably cost 2 to 3 times more that has been estimated ,will cause distress to the healthcare industry , confuse those who were supposed to benefit [because they can't read or speak english],all to satisfy the political ego of the Obama, Reid and Pelosi bunch.
With Love and Kindness,
THE HATMAN
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