Specter Sends Out Email Blast with hopes of Avoiding Senate Walk of Shame

Senator Specter send out an email the night of the vote to continue consideration of the "Health Care Reform" bill.

Dear Friends,

The Congress is continuing its work to try to get healthcare reform legislation, and I believe the prospects are reasonably good that we will produce a bill. I hope that the bill will have the public option - and a robust public option. We will have a cloture vote tonight and I believe that we should be able to get 60 Senators at least to agree to start the debate.

Click below to hear my take on healthcare reform

It would be my hope that my colleagues would not draw lines in the sand or stay in inflexible positions. We need to move ahead, and doing nothing is not an option. The problems of so many millions of Americans uninsured and the problems of the rising healthcare costs makes it imperative that action be taken.

I think that the bill which has been proposed is a very, very good start. It is obviously subject to amendments and some modification. But the total cost has come in at about $850 billion over 10 years and is projected to save about $130 billion to reduce the deficit. In the second decade it is projected to save even more, up to as much as $650 billion. President Obama has committed not to sign a healthcare bill which adds to the deficit, and I’m committed not to vote for a healthcare bill that adds to the deficit.

It is my hope that the bill will emerge with very strong provisions on preventative care. That includes annual examinations without additional costs and encouraging people to have the annual exams to catch many problems at their early stages, like heart disease or ailments, before they develop into debilitating and expensive chronic diseases. I disagree with the recent recommendations to cut back on mammogram screenings or pap smears. I think that early detection is vital and well worth the cost. I can tell you from my personal experience: an MRI detected a brain tumor the size of a golf ball between my skull and my brain back in 1993. It could have been a very, very serious matter had that early detection not occurred.

Healthcare reform is vital and we’re determined to get a good bill.

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter

I'm composing my response to the Senator now.

I have absolutely no reason to expect that he will retract his current position and support a sane, fiscally responsible, and NO-COST solution which will not grow the size or power of government for health care reform that the majority of Americans will support.