DC Watch The "Public Option" Will Be in the Final Health Reform Bill, You Can Take That To The Bank!!! By Carolyn Cormey What you won't be able to take to the Bank is any cost of living increase in Social Security for the next 3 years. While our US Senators and Congressmen will continue to receive the automatic raise of approximately $4,700 they legislated for themselves, seniors won't! I guess when our Legislators put their own raises into automatic drive, they "forgot" to put on automatic drive, the small cost of living raises for those who depend on Social Security. But they did not forget about seniors altogether - they raised the Medicare premiums deducted from your Social Security check! In the new Health Bill, the Democrat Majority Party has also made certain that their own private sector health insurance plans and coverage options remain untouched while designing the "Public Option" they plan to eventually absorb all of the rest of us! Their ultimate goal is to make the "Public Option" into a Single Payer System like Canada or the British Isles. To this end, the Democrats who are in complete control of the Presidency, the House and the Senate, plan to proceed at the most rapid pace we let them get away with! They are not keeping this a secret - if you watch the news - or C-Span - you have heard the Democrat Leaders state that this AND they hold all the power and cards in the legislative deck. The Game Plan - The Double Reverse: It's back. Actually, it never went away. We were "played." YES, THERE WILL BE A "PUBLIC OPTION" inside the final Health Care Reform Bill (called by whatever name it will be called at the time of the last vote). Senator Schumer (NY) has stood in front of TV cameras (without fear, shame or embarrassment) stating that, regardless of whether or not the Senate includes a "Public Option" into their version of the Health Reform Bill - when the Senate Bill is blended with the House Bill in the Conference Committee, a "Public Option" will simply be added into the Conference Bill. The "Conference Bill" is the final Health Reform Bill that cannot be further amended in any way before voted into law. Schumer also says that his Democrat Party is fully prepared to use the "nuclear option" to ram through this bill without the vote of a single Republican, something the Democrats said they would never do. The Process: Five Legislative Committees (3 House and 2 Senate), have each marked-up their own version of the Health Care Bill, each adding to the cost and government control over our personal health information and health care, making decisions and choices for us that should be left to us and our doctors! Each Committee has made draconian cuts and slashes to Medicare and Medicaid programs, with little thought given to the consequences. If 16 to 32 billion cuts to Medicare/Medicaid over the next 10 years are causing nursing homes to close, think of the impact of cuts in the range of 500.5 billion! The goal is to find money, extract it and use it to begin a new, huge entitlement health program. With far more Democrats than Republicans on each of these Committees, the amendments the Democrats wanted, pretty much passed while Democrats voted down almost every single amendment put forward by the Republicans. What a sham! So much for bi-partisanship! This is the way it goes when one political party has such a huge majority that they just put on a show of bi-partisanship with no intention to make any real concessions at all to the minority party. It is a really vicious, underhanded game that where we voters are always the losers because we don't even know the rules! Every amendment on Tort Reform was shot down. Amendments to require finalized cost estimates for this Health Reform from the Congressional Budget Office before the final vote - all shot down. Amendments to require 72 hours between the posting of the final Conference Bill and the final Senate and House vote - were all shot down. What a sham! So much for transparency. We are being told that the 72-hour amendment is not necessary because we have had "months" to talk about everything in this Bill. The very names of this health care bill as well as the content of the bill and the estimates of costs have changed every few days but we will not be given even 72 hours to review the Conference Report that again changes everything in the bill and puts it into the Legislative Language that even our Legislators won't have a chance to read before they vote on it????? Huh? Senator Bill Nelson Legislating: Our own Senator Nelson is a member of one of the two Senate Committees that marked-up their version of this health care bill. Senator Bill Nelson voted in-sync with Committee Democrats on all amendments. He voted against the amendment to include Tort Reform and against the amendment to require a 72 hour waiting period to give us all time to read the final Conference Bill before the vote. Senator Nelson will vote in line with his political party leadership to pass a Health Reform Bill, regardless of what is in the final bill, regardless of whether or not it contains a "Public Option, regardless of the money and programs this bill strips from Medicare/Medicaid AND regardless of whether or not he and other Senators are given time to read the final Conference Bill before they are forced to vote on it. Look back on his voting history. The Democrat Majority Party Leaders have been able to count on his vote when really needed to pass legislation they consider critical to their agenda, ignoring the strongly communicated opinions of his Florida constituents. High Stakes Game In sticking a "Public Option" into the final Conference Bill that cannot be further amended in any way, the Democrat Majority Party Leaders have basically made this a high stakes, all or nothing game! All stops are out. US Congressmen or Senators who do not vote the way their Democrat Leadership tells them to may find that their next campaign for re-election will not be fully funded by their political party. Quite frankly, our US Senators and Congressmen are far more afraid of crossing their political party leaders than they are of crossing us voters SO when push comes to shove in a legislative high-stake game like this, those we elect choose to stick it to us! After all, it is a long time until their next re-election AND there is plenty of time to package up some wonderful promises of "reform" and "fiscal responsibility." AND we voters have short memories, don't we? Those we elect and send back term after term after term count on us for short memories and political party loyalty AND we don't let them down. It is up to us to change the game plan and up the stakes to the point where those we elect become more afraid of us than they are of their political leaders. They work for us. We elect them and we can throw them out. There is the real possibility that this Health Care Reform Bill with the Public Option will probably be voted on within the next two weeks. There is nobody but YOU to protect your Medicare, your Medicare Advantage, your Medicaid, your private health insurance, your private health information AND the decisions that should be left to you, your family and your doctor. Send emails, write letters and start dialing your Senators and Congressmen. Overwhelm their switchboards and do not mince words about your holding them responsible at their next re-election. You can find the local and Planet DC contact information for your Legislators by going to www.contactingthecongress.org OR call them through the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121.

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