MAXIMUM LEADER CAN CELEBRATE A SMALL VICTORY - AT 9:20 A.M. ET:  One congressional committee has passed a health-care plan.  It will take you only a few minutes to read the story, several months to understand what it says.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — House members headed home on Friday, leaving behind the outlines of a nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul that is sure to draw fire from a variety of interests, but also shows the beginnings of a consensus that would provide insurance for more Americans and give them new rights in dealing with insurers.

Note the way that's phrased.  It's "interests" that oppose the plan, but "more" Americans who will have insurance and also have "new rights."  Nothing like a little slanted journalism.  But the left-wing press has few things to cheer these days, so let's be generous.

As a final act before recessing until September, one crucial panel, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, approved landmark health legislation that could ultimately lead to coverage for about 95 percent of Americans and create a new government-run insurance program.

Well, there's the fly in the soup - another government-run insurance program.  Dream of bureaucrats making health decisions.  Dream of long lines and waits.  Dream of...the glories of socialism.

Lawmakers of both parties agree on the need to rein in private insurance companies by banning underwriting practices that have prevented millions of Americans from obtaining affordable insurance. Insurers would, for example, have to accept all applicants and could not charge higher premiums because of a person’s medical history or current illness. All insurers would have to offer a minimum package of benefits, to be defined by the federal government, and nearly all Americans would be required to have insurance.

Catch the loophole.  Companies could not charge more to an individual because of illness or history, but could they raise rates for everyone to cover the obvious losses they'd incur by covering people who are already sick?  This is not meant to be cruel - we want people to have care - but there's something here that looks like it's being done with fun-house mirrors.

In an analysis of the House bill, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that people without insurance would pay $29 billion in penalties over the next 10 years, while employers not offering insurance would pay penalties totaling $163 billion.

Now wait.  People pay "penalties," but don't get insurance?  Better look at that one with a magnifying glass.

Overall, it's impossible to say, from news stories out this morning, how this plan would work.  And the journalistic fine print notes that this bill will have to be melded together with others, from other committees and both houses of Congress, when Congress returns from recess in September.  In the meantime, members are going home and will hear from their constituents.  That's when the real fun begins.

We wonder how many members will actually be able to answer the questions that constituents - real people - have.

August 1, 2009