How should this be debated?  Is it even given the opportunity for that debate?  And at the end of the debate will the majority govern? 

Not in todays Congress - in particular the Senate.  The Senate is no longer a body of democratic, majority rule.  It is rather a pissing match of radical, anti-democratic, selfish, small minded adolescents lacking the ability or where-with-all to act like civil, adult thinking representatives of their constituents, able to concede loss to the majority thinking body or rule.

The jobless extension bill is going nowhere fast.  Like most legislation given to this Senate body it is spat on by opposing parties and never debated in a way that, yes our founding fathers would have expected to be debated. Rather it has become a club of middle schoolers unable to act civil, with honor and integrity by many in its ranks. Throwing tantrums unless they get their way, no matter what - regardless of the fact that they might be in the minority.  Voice your case but concede to democratic, majority rule.

Well maybe not a hero, there are real heros all over America.  Those with honor, integrity and humility, but they are generally not those in the spotlight.  Perhaps it would be better put that America needs a leader.  Our politicians are lacking in leadership qualities and our industry leaders are, well they are not.  President Obama might be the leader we need but the Congress is doing its best to beat down the presidency and the Republican party is certainly one of obstructionism - that is painfully obvious.

What we seem to be lacking is a leader that can exude all the qualities that our society currently lacks.  

Here we go with more political rhetoric (definition: out and out crap!) from both political parties.  Although one side seems more adept at it then the other, but in all fairness all we get is garbage and empty promises all designed to seemingly just serve one purpose - keep themselves in office!

Lies and deceit about healthcare (again from both sides) will ultimately give us little, if any movement forward.  We are the least progressive industrialized nation in the world concerning healthcare.  Yes, it is the best if you can pay for it and no it won't kill via death panels or bring on socialist, communist, Marxist society.

I know it is too much to expect and our news media outlets (loosely termed at best) will never help the cause much if at all.  There are a handful of politicians that are honest about the debate but they get drowned out in the mass (ignorant) hysteria.

Most if not all have by now heard about the landmark ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court on campaign finance law.  How this leaves any semblance of the idea that democracy will not be ruled by the financial puppet strings controlled by the wealthiest individuals and now, the wealthiest, most powerful corporations.  The only thing left, the only dividing line, the last test of common sense and honesty is the individual vote of the American public. 

Decenting Justice, John Paul Stevens said, "At bottom, the Court's opinion is thus a rejection of the common sense of the American people, who have recognized a need to prevent corporations from undermining self-government since the founding, and who have fought against the distinctive corrupting potential of corporate electioneering since the days of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a strange time to repudiate that common sense. While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics." 

God help us all!

Just a taste of what has been and continues to go on with insurance extortion:  When I call Anthem Blue Cross, administered by Wellpoint Pharmacy to get a list of the prescription meds on their actuary list (which can change without notice anytime and does) they ask insistently (operators seem to be reading a script or are trained to lead calls a certain way) what medication I have been prescribed.  I tell them I'm trying to determine which meds are covered under my policy and their actuary before filling my prescription.  My doctor is waiting to write a prescription once I find out what is covered so I don't get screwed. (nice of them, isn't it)  But they tell me that they need to know what med is to be prescribed before they can give me any information about it. Great, circular bull**** is what Blue Cross is serving up.  Makes sense if you are crooked!  Also makes sense if you are willing to get screwed.  I'm not going to give up willingly.  This ridiculous conversation goes on for quite sometime, while the Blue Cross rep on the phone asks me to hold, then comes back with more ridiculousness.  If I give them the name of the originally prescribed medication they tell me what my portion of the payment is, which is 100% because it is not a generic drug and not on the actuary.  I was given the name of a couple of generic equivalents that my doctor provided and tell the phone rep.  They put me on hold and then come back and tell my my co-pay is X amount dollars, which is about $5 less than the full price of the non-generic drug.  So you cover but don't really cover this generic.  Well they explain that some generics are more fully covered than others.  Uh huh? 

Frustrated by insurance (legalized) extortion?  Just about everyone I know sure is!

Read about this fellow getting arrested for asking why Anthem Blue Cross was rasing their premium rates by 14% (again!)  http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/8235

Thank you United States Congress!  (although there are some that are honorable, far too many are not and carry water for the special interest corporate lobbyists)

(... or, Cheats, Liars and Crooks Rule)

"These times they are a changin'", not that this is anything new in society or government.  It is more a return of the pendulum swing to a time of ignorance, fraud and corruption.  We have on the one hand a political party that is more interested in "winning" than it is in governing.  The left is probably as corrupt as the right which results in a false democracy.  Corporate big shots make immoral and in many cases un-ethical decisions but there are no consequences.  Likewise the only consequences to our politicians is that they might lose office, but in many cases the special interests reward the politicians with so much money that they feel they can "buy" their seats come reelection time.