The title of a recently released Fox News article is "PELOSI Health Bill Sets (the) Stage For Contentious Negotiations with (the) Senate". Right off the bat, we notice that this is the "Pelosi Health Bill". Also, "Negotiations with (the) Senate" have already been "Contentious" over THE PUBLIC OPTION.

The sub-title is: "Speaking on the West Front of the Capitol, surrounded by Democratic lawmakers, Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House's version of a health care reform bill will include a government-run insurance option and extend coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans". The first thing we notice (or should notice) is the fact that Pelosi was "surrounded by Democrats", implying that Obama and the Democrats are still having trouble drumming up bipartisan support. In other words, Pelosi's proposal easily passed the House ONLY BECAUSE the Democrats have a clear majority in the House of Representatives (257-178). Democrats hold 59% of the seats in the House. Obviously, this is not the case in the Senate (where the Democrats' majority is only 59-41, short of the 60 seats required to break a Republican filibuster should the GOP attempt one (and they already have) which is why the SENATE health care bill is still stuck in limbo. Oh and some key Senate Democrats are pretty skeptical about their version of the health care overhaul. The final point to make about the sub-title is: will it really insure 36 million Americans who don't have adequate insurance now? We can only HOPE so.

So what are people saying? We can always infer a lot from people's tone. Pelosi started off: "The Affordable Health Care Act will ENSURE, again, AFFORDABILITY FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS, SECURITY FOR OUR SENIORS and RESPONSIBILITY TO OUR CHILDREN". Achieving all three of these goals will be tough, especially "affordability for the middle class" because a lot of middle class individuals and families DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INCOME TO BUY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE AND DON'T QUALIFY FOR GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES AND SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT THIS.

Now, here's the critical issue: who agrees with the Speaker? (we need to come to some sort of concensus). According to Xavier Bacerra, one of Pelosi's fellow California representatives, "This has always been a matter of TRYING TO PULL TOGETHER 218 votes". "trying to pull together" implies that this is no picnic. "THERE IS GROWING CONFIDENCE that we can pass it WITH STRONG DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT". Bipartisanship? What bipartisanship? IN THE HOUSE at least, this isn't necessary. "strong Democratic support" is sufficient.

However, Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich has a drastically different idea: "IS THIS THE BEST WE CAN DO? Only 3 percent of Americans will go to a new public plan while 33 percent are either uninsured or underinsured". So Kucinich thinks that this plan doesn't go far enough. He is right. 33% of Americans uninsured is a BIG concern.

According to Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp, "Americans' health care is too important to risk on one gigantic bill that was negotiated behind closed doors. The MEDICARE CUTS will HURT SENIORS (maybe: How many commercials have we seen about the potential that Medicare may not be enough for many seniors?), the TAX INCREASES will KILL JOBS (this is an old Republican argument) and THE GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF HEALTH CARE will INCREASE premium COSTS (How many times do we have to say this? Right now, private insurers, as a sector, FACE NO COMPETITION).

According to a statement issued by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), "The lasting image coming out of today's press conference is one of dozens of House Democrats standing proudly behind an incredibly unpopular Nancy Pelosi AS SHE PREPARES TO LEAD THEM OFF A POLITICAL CLIFF". OK, Speaker Pelosi is certainly "feisty" (no one disputes that), but she is only "incredibly unpopular" to Republicans and "...as she prepares to lead them off a political cliff" is more evidence that THIS IS JUST POLITICS BY REPUBLICANS TRYING TO START A SMEAR CAMPAIGN.

NRCC communications director Ken Spain takes this idea even further: "Not only will the Democrats' takeover of healthcare lead to INCREASED COSTS, HIGHER TAXES and CUTS TO MEDICARE (repetition of old GOP ideas), it also feeds into the emerging narrative that NANCY PELOSI AND HER PUPPETS are more interested in creating government EVEN IF IT COMES AT THE EXPENSE OF creating more jobs". "Nancy Pelosi and her puppets" is just more politics and "even if it comes at the expense of creating more jobs?" What have Republicans contributed in this area lately? Zero. Nada. Nothing.

Finally, according to George Miller, another California Democratic representative, "I'M PRETTY CONFIDENT that we've got the right pieces in place. We can quibble over parts of it, but the fact is WHEN YOU'RE TAKING A 60-YEAR-OLD SYSTEM THAT GREW UP IN A RATHER HAPHAZARD (random or unorganized) FASHION and you're trying to bring some coherence to it, these are the sorts of things you have to do at the beginning of the process". "I'm pretty confident", but there is still a lot of work to do, because the US insurance industry thus far has been VERY "haphazard".