I wish the earmarks were the only reason this was giving Republicans a hissy fit, but I'm afraid they'd go at any Bill like a bull on red.

Here's a letter my 80-year-old Mother just wrote and got published in her local paper. She remembers the fight to get Medicare, which was the same thing, and the stakes, which were dire:

"(Dear Sirs:)

I am a senior citizen who is not buying the scare tactics being used to stop the health care bill. The truth is, in that bill the government will pay if a senior or anyone else wants to discuss options for end-of-life decisions. It will not be mandatory, and will be between the patient and doctor, or a qualified health professional of choice. Most seniors would be glad to see their end-of-life decisions carried out according to their wishes. Seniors in that position need all the help and information available to them. This has been around for a long time. It is called a "Living Will", and my husband and I both have one. We are both on Medicare, which is of course a government run program.

Forty four years ago these same scare tactics were used by Republicans to stop Medicare. Thankfully, they were not successful. I don't know of any Medicare recipient who would want a different plan. Before it was passed, 40% of seniors had no health insurance at all.

As for the government deciding treatment, the insurance bureaucrats do that right now. Ask any one who has had their claims denied or insurance suddenly cancelled.

Sincerely....."

I must admit, I didn't know about the 40% of seniors having no health insurance before Medicare. Pretty damn shocking, and it still resonates today. How (relatively) quickly we forget what we don't want to remember.

Sorry Old Joe, my Mom knows better than you. Thanks, Mike Madden, for a strong and useful post.

Delaware! I've never been to Delaware, for a long time I thought it didn't exist. Then I met someone from there, and, well.....it seemed real alright. Anyhoo.

I'll keep my eyes open on your program. (I'm still reading the material!) Anything that helps people is welcome, absolutely, but I'm gonna root, root, root for the home team on this one. Healthcare progress now. My 80-year-old Mom says that's the best way (see Mike Madden's post this evening), and who am I to argue? Good luck to your program.

Will do. Thanks for my Mom. See, isn't this country great, when you get down to it?

Yes, absolutely. I've also taken to checking the posting history of the wealth of anti-healthcare posters - amazing. And so American, where often the business of business is giving the rest of us the business. Unless Camille Paglia is whipping up Drudgers to post here, there's a lot of Republican insurance money changing hands on our pages.

The character of the new comments have about the same depth too - won'tworknevereverwillcan'tpossiblyIknowsomeonewhoknowssomeoneinCanadadon'ttake mymoneyawayObamaiscomingtogetme

Click your heels and say it three times, and we'll all end up in a Cigna Board Meeting.

Lots of anti-healthcare first time posters on Salon for this one issue, all over the site. Watch out for the oversolicitous ones (way beyond "opinions"), that try to look reasonable while completely parroting insurance spin, hoping to drag you into long drawn-out discussions and yet gloss over every answered point, again and again. They get paid for their time, we don't.

I was out all day, missed your post.

I don't know about the reporting, but don't worry - you're good. I spoke to O personally about you. He likes your spunk. Post away my Delaware-ish friend!

BTW, hope your wife finds a replacement job or gets to love the time off. I'm starting to.

for the great work this year, and have a great vacation. This September has been officially designated as "interesting times" month. In the meantime, chill.

is the willful disinformation and whipped-up hysteria being pumped out around healthcare reform. After 60 years on the table, it's Obama's first big prize, and it will potentially define his administration. And it's a huge sign that Dems don't necessarily need to engage the unengageable - the Grand Old Party of NO. We can move on, they can pout.

The professional whipper-uppers are putting everything they can into their teabag - birthing, "popular" anger, race-baiting, every issue, every distraction - hoping to make it look like a melting pot. It ain't. It's a PR-manipulated, privatized fury - a canned storm. It collects real gripes from many along the way, but the core of the moment is to stop Obama from getting something perceived as very big, and very, very valuable.

Of course race-baiting has its own cause and dynamic, and there will always be anxiety about Obama's DNA - but the more average Americans see accomplishments, the harder that will be to sustain. The anxiety is being used, at this particular moment, to stop him from achieving something substantial. When that happens - and it will - the paid-for anger won't have a flash point. The American public will see that positive change can happen and reality does not explode. Republicans will see that culture wars and racial trash-talk aren't getting them anywhere, and that their numbers are not going up.

Just a reminder - when Medicare was voted in 45 years ago, the Republicans used the exact same arguments about socialism and society exploding. 40% of seniors had NO healthcare before Medicare was passed. We made a change, it had immense benefit, and now no senior would give it up.

Things ARE at stake, then and now, and there's a reason it all seems to be coming to a head around the time of the current bill. It's a professional coincidence, with some wackos glomming on.

But nothing succeeds like success.

There is absolutely no excuse for your language. None.