I've really had enough listening to the faux debates raging in our Congress over Healthcare. Let's put the consequences of what these people are talking about in perspective.The main/only ambition of the Republican leadership is to free up sufficient funds from Medicaid to give to the wealthiest in our nation, believing that all of our needs and faults can be solved by making these folks even wealthier. The infamous "trickle down" economic benefit to the middle and needy classes, despite not having worked before, is au current (again). Ryan and McConnell have engineered a plan, which accounts for some 17% of our GNP, and are single-handedly ramming it down the throats of their gutless members. The only light at the end of that tunnel will be when the constituents of the poorest states, those with the loudest (but morally weakest) representatives, find themselves without insurance. How in the world does one place party over constituents - moral corruption at its worst. Well, there are consequences to what Congress may enact - for the moment a few Republican members are standing up to leadership and there is a glimmer of light that enough will stand firm. Here are some disturbing facts. 22,000,000 Americans with current health insurance will lose their protection if the bill passes. The most damage will affect our youngest and oldest citizens as they are the most fragile. Maternity care will be unavailable as will neonatal care for the sickest newborns. 5% of citizens over the age of 65 require facility healthcare now. As they age further, 25% of the oldest Americans will be in care facilities. 70% of the 1.3M in facilities currently use Medicaid! The elimination of healthcare will result in needless deaths that will measure in the thousands per year and the hundreds of thousands per decade. That is wholesale slaughter, my friends. If only one person out of 10,000 now insured, loses care and dies, that is 22,000 deaths (22,000,000 x .001) a year or 220,000 per decade, which is four times the number of KIA in Vietnam... For the smug out there, particularly for the supporters of the Republican scheme, here is your future too. Having utilized the services of tax attorneys and CPAs many of you have had your aging parents "spend down" their wealth so that they can make use of government programs, specifically Medicaid. Clever as that may seem, without Medicaid as a safety net, those of your parents who cannot pay their way without the government program, will look to you for support. that is known as being bitten in the ass, eh? Home care costs, on average, are $3600/month (range of $2500-$6500), or $43,200/year. With Alzheimer's, the cost is another $18,000/year, or $61,200/year. Someone has to care for your parents, no? Finally, I hope my venting is wasted and that Republicans with souls and those who hold civilized moral standards, will stand up and be counted as "nays", so the needy and the almost wealthiest can breath easier...