Crunch Time for Obamacare

With a vote due on Health Care tomorrow in the Senate Finance committee, we are getting closer to the end game on health care legislation. None of the supposed compromises nor any pronouncements from the White House about the pending legislation mean anything because NO ONE HAS READ ANY BILL. Sorry for shouting. The Congressional Budget Office has only read the "conceptual language" which is not the bill itself. From Michael Barone in today's Washington Examiner:

Some of the headlines in recent days are not worthy of belief. No, I'm not referring to the headlines that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, however odd that many seem to many (including, it seems, Obama himself). I'm referring to the headlines earlier in the week to the effect that the health care bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will cut the federal deficit by $81 billion over the next ten years.

Yes, that is what the Congressional Budget Office estimated. But, as the CBO noted, there's no actual Baucus bill, just some "conceptual language." Actual language, the CBO noted, might result in "significant changes" in its estimates. No wonder Democratic congressional leaders killed requirements that the actual language be posted on the Internet for 72 hours before Congress votes.

Even the Washington Post is admitting that no one knows what a final bill will look like and that IT WILL BE COOKED UP IN SECRET:

In the Senate, negotiations are shifting from the public forum of the Finance Committee to a more cloistered setting: the seating area in front of the marble fireplace in the office of Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). After Tuesday's vote, Baucus will retreat to Reid's office, along with Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and a handful of top White House officials, to meld the finance panel's package with an alternative bill that Dodd shepherded through the Senate health committee in July.

I have read other reports that Dingy Harry himself will reconcile all bills and so we don't really know what will emerge. Rumors swirl. Those of us in the Tea Party movement must recognize this is crunch time. All the work over the summer will go to waste if we don't force the Congress to realize that we are watching their shenanigans and won't put up with a bill that contains any of these deal killers:

1. New taxes on the middle class, including taxes on existing health care plans.
2. Fines for individuals to coerce purchasing insurance.
3. Coverage of illegal immigrants.
4. Coverage of abortion.
5. Public option, even by stealth through the states.

Time to write your Congressman or Senator, something handwritten is best. Comment on news articles, write letters to the editor. Keep the blog posts coming.