The Activist

Issue date: 11/30/09 Section: Opinion

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democrats in the Senate finally get to have their proposal debated on the floor after a vote on November 21 showed that 60 out of 100 Senators are in favor of debating the proposed health care bill.

Leader Reid urged fellow Senators to vote for a debate, claiming that it is their responsibility to discuss such a critical issue.

"If senators refuse to debate about a profound crisis affecting every single citizen, the nation must ask 'What do you fear? And whose voice do you speak and whose interest do you vote?'" asked Reid.

On the other side of the argument, the opposition, led by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, has dubbed the bill a "monstrosity." Those who oppose the bill's content claim that it will do nothing but raise taxes, raise premiums, and cut Medicare.

The bill, as proposed by the Democrats, is some 2,000 pages, which Republicans would like to shorten a substantial amount. The debate that is to take place on the Senate floor will undoubtedly lead to revisions, however significant or insignificant they may be, and many steps lie ahead for any major reforms to take place in our health care system.

Until a bill is drafted and passed in both Houses and is approved by President Obama (which, seeing how slowly our legislative branch likes to work, will probably not happen for a long, long time), nothing will really happen.

Regardless of what the bill needs to change and needs to keep, however, it is good to see that this piece of legislation is beginning to slowly make progress, and hopefully make its way through.

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