I couldn't agree more. "Government-run healthcare" doesn't make sense, even on the surface. Anything that's "government-run" just means more power for those with power. They're not kidding anyone with the altruistic rhetoric. And the government does not and can not "compete" with private industry. The public/private college analogy is insultingly misleading--private colleges don't "compete" with public ones...it's two different markets...private colleges compete with private colleges and public colleges compete with public colleges... Anyway, keep up the good fight!

Congress and the President are not listening to the American public the majority say leave the healthcare system as is. Why do they want to jam this down are throats especially when the economy is so bad! Senator Warner said they can not just do nothing but I differ I think Congress should do less that would be a good thing. How can we turn over healthcare to Congress you know the one that is managing medicare, medicaid, amtrack, social security and post office (who will lose 7 billion dollars this year) all of which are bankrupt big time!! And don't you like how the Democrats and President are delaying the announcement of the new Strategy in Afganistan for weeks, wonder if the Tailban has gotten that memo since they are still killing are soliders! They are delaying the announcement on the miltary strategy because they want to vote a healthcare bill this week before they announce the new stategry which the American people will not like. They are not going to send the 40,000 troops needed to win the war there only enough troops so we will not win the Battle that why they are playing games with our soldiers lives.

This is a beautifully crafted letter that I hope will save us all from terrible shortcomings as a result of knee-jerk voting in the US. Thank you again for your hard work keeping America free.

Sadly, for our republic, all of the suggestions in the letter make good common financial sense for our republic and in alignment with my thoughts and concerns, as well. What troubles me most is, given that the concerns are legitimate and compelling, nobody, including our President, seems to be taking any of this seriously. Have Democrats and Republicans become so vastly different from each other and so polarized that neither represents the constituency they were elected to serve and exist only to prove the other wrong while ignoring the tremendously high stakes game they play? We press forward headlong to generations of crippling debt, with all of its political and economic ramifications. We press forward to create yet another bloated inefficient and generally incompetent government bureaucracy that will further intrude into our personal lives and personal freedoms and take even more of our hard earned money from our pockets. I fear for our republic. I see this letter as a step in the right direction and I would like to see Senator Reid's response when and if it is ever received.

I believe this bill will cost more than we can afford to pay. Please try to work together for a good compromise. I truly get the feeling the democrats want this bill passed because they are power hungry. The american people love this country and want everyone to have good health care. This bill however is not the way to get it. Thank You Bonita Ridlon

I have a question for this healthcare bill in the Senate beyond just are the Senators going to read the 2000 page plus bill but how much are they going to comprehend after reading the bill. Can you imagine reading a 2000 page book you "like" and how much of it would you remember! Then try and read the heathcare bill which if filled with so much legal terminology and what would you remember!

We need to pull these United States back together... Please help...

Medicare, auto ownership, homeowners, floods, etc... These insurances are NOT MANDATED. No one has to own a car; if we choose to, but the coverage and cost, that’s affordable to us anywhere in the U.S., is not mandated... The same for Homeowner’s ins., it is not mandatory. Neither is Flood Ins; a prime example of what happens when the govt underbids insurance companies; the govt now our only option. Medicaid, that strips every bit of self-esteem one ever had; and you have to be rock bottom to get it, and it only pays doctors $8-$10/visit. There are NO mandates for Medicare...YET. When I turned 65, my BCBS would only pay Medicare's cost, which is 80% of the prices Medicare sets for the treatment. Ex: I have to have an outpatient kidney/bladder procedure every 6 months that takes about 2 hours. My Urology/Oncology Specialist charged $2500+ BCBS at Medicare prices that only allowed $396 for the procedure. Can you see a lawyer accepting 1/6 of the cost he charges? Yet Congress comes down on insurance companies and doctors, but won’t even consider tort reform for lawsuits. Bottom line, these are our own personal choices, but you want to mandate (govt approved coverage) health INSURANCE for everyone, penalizing through taxes on gross income, fines, even jail time, starting immediately, but “benefits,” not until 2014... and YOU DARE CALL THIS CONSTITUTIONAL? I think it’s somewhere between socialism and Marxism.

THANK GOD FOR THOSE THAT UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEMS. MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU....

There is nothing that the government does not have a hand in from the day you are born to the day you die. That is the question that everyone seems not to take note of. Freedom is what the government of the people dole out to its constituence. Democracy is an albatross for the unlearned, and Socialism prevails in all aspects of life of every United States Citizen. That is the question all american should be asking. What is happening? Why the denial? The Bilderberg Group envisions global rule involvement in not only third world nations, including the USA. Vote to stop the encroachment. Global rule simply leads to entrenched slavery and more killings in the name of progress and civility.

Numerous states are getting something for the closture vote bu tVirginia is not listed. Why is Virginia a second hand state and not getting anything but we will pay for what other states are getting!!! Does Virginia get not respect. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) won a provision exempting his state from paying the usual share of costs for new Medicaid patients. The deal, which critics have dubbed the "Cornhusker Kickback," is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years. Before a close vote last month, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) won an even larger break for her state -- an estimated $300 million in extra federal spending, in a move now derisively called the "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) made sure that certain insurance companies in his state are off the hook from a new $7 billion dollar tax. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) got his kickback -- a $100 million bonus for the University of Connecticut… to do with whatever they want. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) was "persuaded" to drop his concerns after Senator Reid offered his state a $10 billion grant for "community health centers"-money that could easily be funneled to facilities that perform abortions. Three states -- Pennsylvania, New York and Florida -- all won protections for their Medicare Advantage beneficiaries at a time when the program is facing cuts nationwide. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) won a promise from Reid to support his plan to expand eligibility for health insurance. The Senators from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming will get the "Frontier Freebie" -- they'll see an increase in Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors, because "at least 50 percent of their counties are ‘frontier counties,' defined as those having a population density less than six people per square mile." Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), chairman of the Senate health committee, got a provision inserted to increase Medicare payments to certain "low-volume hospitals" in Grinnell, Keokuk and Spirit Lake, treating limited numbers of Medicare patients.

I was born in the United States of America not in a socialist country. I believe in my freedom and I do not want a government that has a hand in my personal life, spirtitual beliefs or my health care. I never thought I'd live to see a government that actually would go after private citizens and news stations that do not agree with what they have to say. We have socialist in the President's cabinet and if they are pointed out they just move them to a different office thinking we won't notice. Even Hollywood is trying to run the government. Are you people crazy? We pay for the plane and crew to send the President's wife and one of the richest women in the world Oprah Winfrey to try to get the Olympics to come to Chicago and then the next day we pay for Air Force One to take the President on the same mission. As anybody with good sense knows it takes more than 3 days to get the Olympics anywhere. But Washington continues to want to throw our money around like it belongs to them. Good luck boys because President Barack O'bama, Sen Jas. Webb, Sen Mark Warner, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House (who by the way hears footsteps running behind her) and Harry Reid Senate Majority Leader, elections will be coming up and I plan on being the first in line to vote. Your time is running out. See you at the polls.