Healthcare plans: a threat to freedom?
"The greatest threat to freedom that I have seen," that's how the leader of the Republican opposition in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, described the Democrats' health care plan to a mass demonstration on Capitol Hill.
Apparently the big organisations that represent and do not agree.
The president greeted their backing for the bill with some relief. He said of one of them, the AARP:
"They're endorsing this bill because they know it will strengthen Medicare, not jeopardize it. They know it will protect the benefits our seniors receive, not cut them. So I want everybody to remember that the next time you hear the same tired arguments to the contrary from the insurance companies and their lobbyists."
It wouldn't cut much ice with the thousands of demonstrators outside chanting "kill the bill, kill the bill" and carrying placards with pictures of a red hand with the legend "Hands off my health care".
One man told the Ö÷²¥´óÐã that it was "terrible". "They just want to take over everything. They want everyone to join the public option."
A woman said it was "abominable" and "unconstitutional", because the bill was too difficult to understand and people had not had time to read it. She said it was the responsibility of the churches and communities to look after those who couldn't afford healthcare, not the state.
The House of Representatives expects to have a bill passed by Saturday, which would be nowhere near the end of the affair, but the end game is that much nearer.
I’m Mark Mardell, the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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