Carol is right that some good provisions remain in the Senate version of the health care bill. But the bottom line is that the private insurance companies are being handed 40 million new clients with only a minimum of regulation and with no competition. That is exactly what they wanted from the beginning. We knew that at least 38 of the Republicans in the Senate would roll over for them, and now it's certain that all 40 will. So it was up to the 60 members of the Democratic Caucus alone to honor the mandate the American people gave them in 2008. Instead they squandered it. Whether the bill passes or not, the American people are by and large screwed big time.

--- Steve