"I remember reading something about one of the Repub members proposing an amendment to that effect, but it was voted down. I'm sorry I don't know the specifics."

Yes, it was!

"Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) offered an amendment in the Ways & Means Committee that would have required Members of Congress to enroll immediately in the government-run health plan that would be established under the Democratic bill. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) offered an amendment to put his committee on the record in support of enrolling Members of Congress in the government-run plan as well. While the Wilson amendment was approved by voice vote in the Education & Labor Committee, the Heller amendment was killed in the Ways & Means Committee at the behest of Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Rangel."

http://republicanleader.house.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=1397

"I would like to ask some of these rabid-right politicians how they reconcile their vehement anti-health-care positions with what Jesus Christ (in whose name they shamelessly cloak themselves) requires of his followers in caring for the children, the poor, the sick, the helpless and hopeless"

First, they would probably tell you that they aren't Jesus.

Second, Jesus believed in freely given charity...not tax-enforced charity. Charity truly IS charity when freely given, not forceably taken.

Finally, those you list are being taken care of...last time I looked all those are on Medicaid if they need medical attention and can't afford it.

And BTW, if I was a member of the working poor and had my credit ruined, I would care less...because the emergency room saved my life.

Your life is worth a lot more than your credit rating, wouldn't you say?

"You forgot to mention the fact that emergency room visits don't cover the kind of preventative care that really saves lives - early detection matters in everything from heart disease to cancer to diatbetes, etc."

Ah yes, the things that most people DON'T do anyway. Ok...well, I would suggest that if they cannot afford healthcare, they can petition to get Medicaid. That IS what it is for, is it not?

"Moreover, emergency room care is NEVER "free" - hospitals will ALWAYS try to bill you. Obviously the indigent can't pay, but what about the working poor? Those that can pay are often forced into bankruptcy, and those who default have their credit ruined."

Those that CAN pay took the gamble of NOT having health insurance, because if they could pay for this, they COULD have paid for healthcare, right? The working poor can afford health insurance...there are places out there that let people buy health insurance (if their employer doesn't provide them the option) which is competitive to what you would pay if your employer does offer it. Those that can't pay have their credit ruined...but then this begs the question that if they are working poor, what are they doing buying on credit anyway, doesn't it?

You're making a nice try, but logic wins out in the end, my friend.

"Actually, your lying about Ted Kennedy so soon after his death is not very empathetic, but although Kennedy is mentioned in the article, his personality is not the real point."

First, I didn't bring up Kennedy...Unabannable Bastard. Second, I didn't say that about Kennedy...His friend Ed Kline, he did!

Teddy Kennedy Joked About Drowning Mary Jo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynt6v-DdbXA

"The real point is that the ludicrous right wing cult agenda which the current decadent remains of the once quite-honorable Republican party supports, reflects a lack of empathy.Over and over again in their policies and personal lives, right wing public figures show unenlightened self-absorption."

Really? So you say the Republicans lack empathy. Then why was it that Pelsoi and Rangel didn't want to put Congress on the SAME public option that they want for everyone else? Seems to me putting Congress on the same program would show a great deal of empathy for those who have to be on the same program, wouldn't it?

"Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) offered an amendment in the Ways & Means Committee that would have required Members of Congress to enroll immediately in the government-run health plan that would be established under the Democratic bill. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) offered an amendment to put his committee on the record in support of enrolling Members of Congress in the government-run plan as well. While the Wilson amendment was approved by voice vote in the Education & Labor Committee, the Heller amendment was killed in the Ways & Means Committee at the behest of Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Rangel."

http://republicanleader.house.gov/news/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=139708

"If the Repubs kill this bill, forcing the uninsured to endure poverty, sickness, and death, does that not make them the much-feared "death panel"?"

Not really as people CAN buy health insurance if they can afford it. If they can't, then they can get on Medicaid or Medicare.

If neither is an option, then they can still get help if they need it from the emergency room as it is illegal for ANY hospital to turn away someone in need of care...PERIOD.

"Kennedy never told jokes about Mary Jo... that's just a Republican urban legend."

Oh REALLY? Well according to his friend Ed Kline, he did!

Teddy Kennedy Joked About Drowning Mary Jo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynt6v-DdbXA

And apparently there ARE those who think Mary Jo's life versus Kennedy's career was an even trade.

The Footnote Speaks: What Would Mary Jo Kopechne Have Thought of Ted's Career?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-lafsky/the-footnote-speaks-what_b_270298.html

"Meanwhile, Laura Bush still cackles with evil glee when she brags about how she mowed down that poor boy in Texas, while her husband jerks his tiny gherkin over a pile of dead Iraqi babies."

Care to show that somewhere where she bragged about it? All I found was that her car hit his car and he was thrown from his jeep.