I do not for one minute believe that moving to a public option will save us money in the long run. The government is notorious for underestimating by many times over the amount their programs will cost.

Name one government program that has gotten SMALLER over time.

I do not believe that government should get into the business of 'selling' citizens things in an arena where they are competing with private industry.

I believe that the hidden agenda is to ultimately end up with a system where every man, woman, and child is on the public dole. If there is a public option that is cheap, why would employers continue to offer insurance as a benefit to their employees? I foresee employers giving employees little raises to cover the cost of the public option and dropping them from the private system altogether. Then those individuals are STUCK with the public plan whether they like it or not. I believe that over time, that 'affordable' public option will only be supported by large, large, large increases in taxes as more and more people are part of the pool.

The reason employers are in the business of insuring employees goes back to the days when unions were beginning, as well as WWII, when there were government-imposed wage freezes and the only way companies could one-up each other and be attractive to potential employees was to offer benefits, which was allowed. To keep up with their competition, more and more businesses had to offer things like pensions and insurance. That worked when America wasn't competing against nations like China and there was cash to go around. Now that the marketplace is global, businesses don't necessarily have the cash to pony up all those goodies.

Personally, I live in an area of the country where unions - other than for teachers - really don't exist much. I've never been in a situation where we had cradle-to-grave safety nets. I don't think the government should be in the business of taking over what is currently a private sector industry because I don't think it will serve us well in the long run. They simply do NOT do a good job managing much of ANYTHING, and I am not ready to put them in charge of 1/6th of the economy.

Reform? Yes. Something that will bring costs down? Yes. But governmental competition against the private sector? Not their job. Not now, not ever.

I hope Pelosi and her bill go down in flames.