I've had to catch up with what's going on with this health care bill, and frankly, I'm at a crossroads with it. This is the worst part about politics; you never quite get what you want, and you're stuck having to figure out which way to go because you hate parts of everything you're supposed to like.

That's how it is with this health care bill. At this point, the President has pretty much stated that he wants it passed, which basically means he's given up on getting it right and just wants to get it done. I can understand some frustrations, and I can understand that he knows he's not going to get any cooperation from the other side. I support that part; pass a bill anyway and move on.

I'm still unsure about this bill, though. I don't like some of the stipulations, such as construction businesses being singled out where if they have at least 5 employees they have to follow the same rules as businesses with more than 50 employees in other vocations. I don't like the penalties against people who decide not to get into the health care program; that's going to hurt the middle class, and most probably all those people who are on unemployment. Yeah, I hear someone saying it doesn't kick in for a few years. All that means is that the people who are on unemployment later on are going to have to deal with it.

I have heard that a state or two has decided they're going to vote against following the federal mandate for this bill, on the basis of state's rights. I'm of the opinion that if this bill gets passed, any state that votes against it loses all Welfare and Medicaid funding from the federal government as well. Then those states can find out how all the visits to the emergency rooms shuts down their health care system. Oh yeah, there will be major violations of EMTALA laws, those hospitals will be fined, and some of them will be dropped from Medicare as well; talk about a state without health care, since almost no hospital can survive without Medicare funds, and they'll already have lost their Medicaid reimbursements based on what I'd do.

Maybe hardball, but I don't believe you get to pick and choose which federal laws you decide you want to follow. After all, without some federal laws we'd still have segregation in this country, as many states in the south didn't want that to be eradicated either. How many people will keep forgetting history?

With my back against the wall, I'd have to say that I'd have to go with having a health care plan. Unemployment is high right now, there's no indication that it will be going down any time soon, and I have a feeling that, at some point in the next 5 years, it's going to jump even more. Those people will still need some kind of health care coverage, and that's who it's supposed to be for.

Still, if that fine keeps some people from being able to receive health care, then the bill will have been a waste. Better than nothing, I guess; such a shame...