Has the jury reached a verdict?

There is apparently a trial going on right now in this country. Some might call it the trial of the young century. It is broadcast everyday, though not on as many channels as O.J. Those representing the different sides spend each day speaking well or ill of the accused depending on where they sit. The accused has been charged with everything from causing the premature death of the elderly, to driving small businesses to file for bankruptcy, to bringing about the end of this great nation through a deficit that can never be overcome.

The accused goes by the street name of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The victim is, apparently, the American people. The odd thing about the the trial of People v Healthcare is that it has a sort of Minority Report feel to it. The PPACA (I am not typing that name over and over again) has not actually done anything yet, but it is spoken of as though it is the end of western civilization.

I was watching C-SPAN 2 today, as I am wont to do when looking for the straight skinny on what is happening in the bowels of our government, and found the tone of the debate familiar. I checked my browser to make sure I had not accidentally clicked on Court-TV -- not really, but it makes for good prose.

The Republicans and Democrats were each taking turns addressing the jury, who in this case was actually themselves since they are who will be casting votes. The prosecution...I mean, Republicans, would spend 60 minutes speaking of all the horrible and inexcusable things this bill was going to do. Grandmothers finding that Medicare would no longer cover their ailments. Small businesses going under because they could not afford healthcare for their employees. The federal government collapsing under the weight of $2 trillion in debt over the next 10 years.

After they were done, the defense, oops Democrats, would get 60 minutes to sing the praises of their client. How it had fine moral character by covering millions of people that could not otherwise afford it. How the public option would ensure true competition in the industry. How no one could be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. How their client was here to save this country if only it could have the chance.

The thing I found disturbing was the misdirection. The Republicans had printed out the bill. It sat on a desk beside the podium and they made several references to its bulk. I think they actually had printed several copies because it seemed every Republican that spoke had a copy of it next to them. The stacks were easily a couple feet high. They spoke of how wordy it was and bloated and included things that made no sense and such. No mention of the environmental cost of printing so many pages.

The Democrats then got up and pointed out that the Republicans had only printed the bill on one side of each sheet of paper and had enlarged the font to the point where the bill took up much more space than it should. Not wanting to take either side's opinion at face value, I downloaded the bill myself to see how large it was. It is 2074 pages. This is 1037 pages when printed front and back. I will say the font is quite large anyway, but even if you left the font size alone, 1037 pages is the size of a couple Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling hard cover novels. That would be, at most, 6-8 inches tall. Not the two feet as implied by the Republicans.

And I challenge any Republican to show me a bill that is not filled with the legal-speak they derided this one for.

The Republicans then got up and discussed the cost of the bill. The Democrats claimed it was deficit neutral. That is, it would not add to the deficit and any costs would be accounted for through cost cuts in other areas and such. The Republicans point out how the $800 billion cost (over 10 years) arrived at by the independent Congressional Budget Office, was actually more than $2 trillion when added up. I am not sure if I should believe the independent Congressional Budget Office or the Republicans. Hmmm. Who has the most to gain by fudging the numbers?

Again, not wanting to take anyone's word on the matter, I checked the CBOs findings and saw that they did conclude that the PPACA (HR3590) will actually cut the budget deficit by $130 billion over 10 years. You can read it yourself here. Not that this proves anything, but making such determinations is what the CBO does. Whereas the Republicans are trying to win case. I lean toward the CBO in this situation.

As the trial..er..debate wore on, I did not know who to trust. Each side presented their arguments and the other side tried to shoot holes in the arguments. For my part, I found the Democrats positions to be more believable than the Republicans.

The Republicans seemed to sing the praises of private insurers and small business in one breath, but in the next they talked about how businesses would chose not to cover their employees because the fine for not providing insurance was cheaper than the cost of the insurance. And that because the cost of the private insurance was so expensive, this would drive people to a public option. But isn't that the point the Democrats were making? Private insurance companies are charging so much and making so much profit, no one can afford it. The only way to keep it competitive is to have a non-profit option to compete with them.

I took some time and read through some snippets of the bill -- which can be found here.

One interesting thing I saw is that the fines for not having insurance do not kick in until 2014. And that year those fines amount to $8 for each month that person does not have insurance. The fines jump the next year to $30 per month and then to $63 per month in 2016 and each year after. There are exemptions for people that cannot afford it and for people that should be covered under someone else's plan such as a parent's or spouse's. In those cases, the person responsible for providing the coverage, would be fined if they do not do so.

There is even an exemption for people who do not have health coverage because they belong to a recognized religious organization that does not use the healthcare system.

So. The trial (debate) goes on. Unfortunately, instead of the case being a presentation of the facts, as would be required in a court of law, this is simply two groups presenting their distorted view of the situation in an attempt to further their own ends.

I will tell you that I have listened to the arguments and I have probably read more of the bill than most and while it is not entirely what I would like to see in healthcare reform, it has many merits and is nowhere near the angel of death that Republicans would have you believe it is.

I end with this. If you intend to take a position on this bill, or any other, do not get your information from the talking heads on TV. Read the bill yourself, or at least skim through it. Watch the debate on C-SPAN2. Form your own opinion. If you still have a position to one side or the other, then by all means voice it to your Senator and the world. Otherwise, do not muddy the already cloudy waters with hearsay, speculation, and lies.