[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/19/reidunveilsbill.jpg caption="Democratic Senators introduce their 2,074 page health care reform bill."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty
With the Senate health care bill weighing in at 2,074 pages... this means we now have more than 4,000 pages of proposed health care legislation. 4,000.
One Republican senator is threatening to read the whole bill on the Senate floor... that could take up to two days. But –some are wondering if anybody is going to read this thing at all.
Another question is, with Thanksgiving and the Christmas season approaching, are people simply getting tired of this ongoing mammoth debate?
It's been months now - with a lot of media focus on health care reform since those town meetings and tea party protests of the summer... Yet it seems like we're nowhere near the end yet. The Senate and House bills have some significant differences when it comes to taxes, abortion coverage and the so-called "public option."
And If the bill makes it through the Senate – and that's still very much an open question - the two chambers will have to merge the two bills together – and then that final bill has to pass both houses.
But experts suggest that Americans are more tuned in than ever. A Senate historian says what's unusual about this debate is that people have been following it from the beginning - watching the bills go through committees, markups, etc. He says the public has paid a lot more attention to this than almost any other piece of recent legislation.
SO HERE'S MY QUESTION TO YOU: Are you losing interest in the health care reform debate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Betsy
No, not at all. I am an RN and have been for health care reform for about 10 years. We have made this debate unnecessarily complicated and divisive. I say: drop the public option, mandate that everyone have health insurance, outlaw insurance companies from dropping coverage or refusing coverage based on preexisting conditions and call it a day! Perhaps the major insurance carriers and drug companies need not make huge profits on the backs of ill and injured Americans!
Bud in Reston, Virginia
Yes, I have, Jack. I followed the debate closely, even watched the markup hearings, read about other countries’ health care systems, etc. and was energized about the prospects of meaningful reform. But these people suck all the enthusiasm out from any debate with their childish bickering.
Anna in Colorado
I am tempted to tune out; the debate is tiring, but I know that is exactly what the liberals want. They want America to tune out so they can pass sweeping health care reform that the majority of Americans do not want. I hope the rest of America is still paying attention; don't let Congress decide what is best for us despite what we want.
Dorothy
This bill is so loused up most people are fed up. No one really knows what is in it, including the senators and congressmen.
Buddy
I'm only interested in seeing the bill fail because it’s been negotiated entirely behind closed doors. What about this promise from Pres. Obama: “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they’ll get a seat at the table, they just won’t be able to buy every chair…we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments”… Just more broken promises from Obama.
Bob in Pa.
How can you afford to lose interest with this government? If they pass this, kiss your grandmother goodbye.