Up to date on the debate

In the past couple of weeks, there have been some gains and some drawbacks in the health care debate. First of all we must applaud the efforts of the House of Representatives for passing the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Now the main question remains if the Senate can pass a bill soon. President Obama prefers to pass reform by the end of the year, but as it comes closer to December and for the Holiday break, it seems unlikely. Now the success of health care reform lies in the hands of the Senate and it is going to be a tough battle. At the moment the Republicans have united to not support the reform bill and will likely filibuster it until it is dead. In order to avoid this, the Senate needs all 57 Democrats and the two Independents to vote in favor of the bill. As time passes, it is obvious that many of the moderate Democrats are still on the fence about the Senate Health Care bill yet there is still hope since no one has seen the Senate bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid has not allowed any Senator to read the bill until the Congressional Budget Office announces its score and cost, coming in at any moment. Some of the topics causing some moderate Democrats and Republicans to oppose the bill are the public option and the language of the abortion clause. Until the bill is released, many votes remain still up in the air along with the success of health care reform. So stay tune more political drama to come…