So the Dems gutted the bill(from single payer), just to gain a single Republican vote?
The United States attempted implementing a single-payer system during the FDR Administration, which fizzled before it left the white house, and then again during the LBJ Administration, which was cut down to what we now call Medicare/Medicaid via the Social Security Act of 1965.
Which is why I keep harping about keeping these types of articles off this site.
This could potentially have worse effects on the dynamics of the site than these articles themselves, but I am interested to hear what this community has to say on subjects like these.
Also, even (especially?) amongst smart people, there is a large range of thoughts; from some guy here whose profile says "venture communist" (whatever the hell that is) to plenty of libertarians, and everything in between. Most of us are likely to be relatively convinced of our views, making debate mostly fruitless and quite potentially incendiary.
Also, yes, you can run away from these discussions; the site is moderated. Other sites with a narrow focus (lambda the ultimate) do just fine. It's sites that grow and grow that decay.
Also, if it's "news" and "important" then there are plenty of other sites where you can talk about it all you want. There are not many other sites for the discussion of hacking and startups though.
In fact even the massively watered down version called "the public option" is marginal. Which is why you keep on hearing about how it is in this version, out of that one, in the next, and so on.