I thought that Senator McCaskill did it perfectly today when she asked the crowd how many had Medicare. Many hands went up, then she asked how many want to give it up. No hands. If the people there think about that they will be able to get past all of the yelling and name calling from the fear mongers. Senator Brown did a nice job on Maddow tonight also. Calm, reasoned, and determined to move the process forward.

The problem as you say with people not wanting to give up their Medicare is that the bill scales back Medicare coverage. This is not to say that Medicare has money taken from it in fact under the bill I believe it will get larger. However, specific tests will no longer be available as health care providers no longer make the decisions and submit them to Medicare to be paid. A board will decide what tests are worth doing and which are not. So, instead of the Doctor telling you what tests you need he will have to consult a list. Now mind you no one has seen this list and it is probably still in the making. Lets assume it contains all tests but one. Even if it is the most useless test it was created at some point for the assistance of diagnosis of something. With 300 million people there are going to be a few people that get the disease that needs the test which isn't on the list. This is what scares people. What happens if the items not allowed are exactly what they need. As it stand now as long as we can convince a doctor we are good for it he will do as many tests as necessary until he finds it.
An Example:
When I was 16 I injured my back very badly while playing soccer. I got kicked in the back and was in excruciating pain. I had trouble lifting objects but as the skin wasn't broken and no bones seemed to be out of alignment I was told to rest and take relax and it should go away. After 2 weeks I was taken to the doctor and had X rays taken. The doctor couldn't spot anything so I was given a back brace and told to rest. After another two weeks and still not able to carry more than 10 pounds I went back and got a CT Scan. Again the Doctor found nothing. So I was scheduled for a MRI. After the MRI they still did not find anything. So I rested and took care of myself. My father began to be really upset thinking I was faking. I continued to plead my case that I really was injured and that I was having trouble lifting and stretching. Finally 3 months after my injury my doctor scheduled a Bone Scan. The Bone Scan is a different scan which is not normally performed my type of injury. However, it found the problem. I had a slight fracture in two Vertebrae in my lower back. The doctor said that it was possible those fractures could cause the pain and trouble lifting. The treatment was the same rest and relaxation, wear a brace, but I was prescribed something to take the edge off the pain. I was given an official doctors note allowing me to stay home from school and proving to my father that I was not faking. What happens when this type of situation comes up? When would the Government plan pull the plug on the testing? If after the first two scans they had found nothing and they wouldn't allow any more test there was a possibility that my father would have forced me back to school, and I would have complicated things more with my back. If I had been employed I would have to return to work because without a note saying I am incapable of lifting anything my employer would have me work or let me go. This is what scares people. I have heard similar stories from friends and family. What if a cancer patient fights off cancer and it comes back? What if it comes back more than once. Will we be covered for the first relapse? What about the 4th? What about drug treatment? Many addicts need to come in more than once and not always for drug related issues. Because they are on drugs they are more susceptible to infection and disease. Do we deem them worth assistance? If not I would have lost my sister and one of my nieces. These are the type of things we want spelled out before people start passing legislation that will cost everyone money and might decide the future for people.

Also, Fear is not always a bad thing. Not fearing a lion can get you eaten. Not fearing God can leave you burning in hell, smoted or worse. Fear is a tool our body uses to keep us from taking unnecessary risks. The fact that there is no fear in any of the congressman that are supporting this bill is disturbing. They should be fearing the people that supported them and whether or not they want this health care item. They should be fearing whether the health care bill will open unintended avenues for corruption, scandal and waste. It is their job to represent us because we cannot. Thus they must take on all of the fears that we may have and either work to console us through clear concise language in regards to this bill or compromise on things in the bill to waylay the fears of the majority of their constituents. It is easy to play on fear, it is also very easy to extinguish fear. What are people afraid of in this bill? The unknown. So make it known and those that continue to spread fear will be in the wrong or will be tossed out on their ear for the fear mongers they are. Continue to be secretive and you only fuel the fire.

I believe one great American was once quoted to have said " there was nothing to fear but fear itself". This goes to the heart of the matter, when individuals play on other people's fear, they may be doing more damage than good. But the employment of fear at times might be a good thing, if the populace is not alive to it's responsibilities, it behooves on the leaders to use any tactics whatever they find legally to get their attention. That is not to say the use of fear in this discussion is encouraged, we should note that there are some legitimate concerns, and these have to be addressed by the leaders of Democratic party and others in the Republican party that support this initiative. you can read more on this on my blog @ http://ridwanalah.blogspot.com/

Since there is no bill it is not possible to discuss its content. There are proposals, and these are being misrepresented in a blatant attempt to stifle and squash discussion. The Democrats want to reform health care the Republicans want to prevent reform of health care. The public is ill served by the tactics being used to prevent a public discussion of this important issue.

Not long ago, the Attorney General stated we are a nation of whiner. I wonder how he feels now.

The person who said that we were a nation of whiners was Phil Gramm the former Senator that was reputed to be in line to be the Sec. of the Treasury for McCain. That would have been a disaster since his role in putting this country into near bankruptcy is well documented.

Of course, the fear the republicans are instilling on healthcare is different then the fear the democrats instilled when trying to reform social security? How soon everyone forgets huh.