Pan,
I'm with you on the great majority of the post. I do believe the Dems will suffer by cramming this thru. The reason really stems around the idea that the Bill will not materially change anything. I think the general public who regardless of which side you are on, will have expectations of reduced cost, or better access or some key point and ALL will be dissappointed.
I found this article which is quite long and looks at some of the "advanced" countries of the world and their approaches to healthcare. If you have time wander your way thru it. You'll find some very interesting tidbits and perspective that I think is really the key. Each country is unique in its approach, but at the end of the day there is no free lunch.
Most of the Canadians who post here extoll the virtues of their system. They would appear to be in the monority of their countrymen from the poll taken and quoted herein. It states that 59% have major concerns regarding the sytem and fell it is currently in need of major overhaul.
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-613.pdf
Looking at most ratings, parts of Europe offer the "best" healthcare, but many of them will be and are seeing rationing and reductions in quality and services offered as the governments are decreasingly able to pay for or deliver said services. If you read it please note the references to compensation levels for thier physicians, it is scary. The point is if we in the US paid our physicians in the same manner we'll be seeing auto mechanics for cancer treament. They don't have to work with the engine running.
I am not in favor of the current bill, because I don't believe it addresses the core items that need reform. I also believe when people pull the "let's get it in place, then we'll fix it" ploy as is being done it is for all the wrong reasons, not to mention the FIX IT part is normally forgotten or purposely not followed up. This rush ( we have to have a vote by Easter ) to get "change" inacted is the precursor to unintended consequences and they are usually worse than the problem they were intended to solve.
Unfortunately our governmental system has no "quality" involved. In most business environments quality reads something like "done once, done right". In medicine I believe the hypocratic oath is something on the order of "do no harm". I have strong belief that this bill will do lots of harm. I am for reform, just not in this form.