Senate moving forward with health care bill

The Senate voted tonight to move forward with an “historic health care bill,” as the mainstream media couched it, following a 60-39 vote on a procedural motion.

“This bill is bad for Georgia, bad for families and small businesses, bad for our seniors and bad for America. We should scrap it and start over,” Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said in a news release. “This disastrous bill would raise taxes, raise premiums and drive millions of Americans to a public option where there is no option.”

Democrats found 60 votes after Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., agreed to vote for the bill following a provision sending $100 million in taxpayers’ dollars to Louisiana. All 40 Republicans opposed the legislation, saying it will bring about higher taxes while cutting Medicare for seniors.

The House earlier this month passed its version of health care legislation. Should the Senate pass its bill, it would have to be reconciled with the House version before heading to the president for his approval or unlikely veto.

“How is it we can run the country with a 16-page Constitution yet it takes 2,074 pages and more than 400,000 words of gobbledygook to present the Senate Health Care Bill?” author, brand consultant and plain language proponent Alan Siegel asked in a Friday news release.

“The nation’s legislators have lost touch with the power of simple expression. The American people are entitled to clear, accessible communications in order to make informed decisions,” Siegel added. “As Thomas Jefferson said: ‘When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.’”