It's not perfect, but it's a start.

Thanks for your feedback, especially the extra info on the tanning tax. That was not getting a lot of airplay in national media or local (DC/northern Virginia) media. And of course, thanks for reading!

I'll be looking for your comprehensive review on The Washington Post calculator. I was not aware of the tanning salons issue. I hope you'll get more specific on that and these unfunded mandates States are being called on to cover, too. As for the bar being lowered from $250,000 to create new taxes, it has a ways to go before it's going to touch me. At this point, there is a lot more benefit coming out of this bill than harm for me and mine. But I read your other review and I'll read another if you post it. This is America, thank goodness! (And thanks very much for reading my thoughts.)

The American people clearly wanted Health Reform. The Democrats could have taken the lead on this issue and put the Republicans on notice with a very simple strategy. They should have enacted simple legislation that addressed cost, not creating bureacracy. Did you know that this legislation creates 159 new bureacracies? 159. That is not a start, that is unconscionable expansion of government. I would have supported baby steps and am personally for reform...especially for costs. The Democrat lobbys bought off this legislation (like the trial attorney's who make millions off of ridiculous lawsuits). I am an Independent and consider that there is blame to go around. But I also recognize the Pelosi locked the Republicans out of the process at the outset, which is how this thing ballooned out of control. There was no voice of opposition to keep things in check. For Republicans to enact reasonable law, they need Democrats to temper the debate...it works both ways. But this bill is far from just "a start." It will ruin our economy. That is not gloom and doom...the numbers don't add up and we are already in a recession.

Now that this bill is done we can start talking about JOBS. What? Not jobs? Oh...the environment and amnesty are more pressing than Jobs. I guess I was watching a DIFFERENT State of the Union speech than everyone else because I could swear I heard the POTUS indicate he was going to switch his focus to jobs. Maybe Nancy Pelosi was too busy standing up and sitting down to actually LISTEN to what was being said.

I agree, the biggest change made here was to 1) offer wider access to health coverage. To do that, 2) cost-regulated exchanges that ensure folks with pre-existing conditions are able to buy insurance had to be created. In the past, folks who didn't have insurance coverage that still got health care in Emergency Rooms, and walked away from their bills (perhaps because they couldn't afford it) - passed that cost on to everyone else. This bill requires those folks to pay a penalty for not having insurance. It seems pretty logical to me.

I wouldn't call anything that costs more than a trillion dollars logical. The two points you made could both have been addressed in a bill that was no larger than twenty pages. It is the OTHER stuff that causes concern.

So glad you clicked on it! I think we can all benefit by getting more information about this bill. Thanks for reading.