Source/Link Write-Up

1. This article appeared in the New York Times online newspaper which examines the fight of President Obama to influence Congress to reach a compromise agreement to salvage the health care reform bill and bring it to his desk for signing as soon as possible.  This is private, for profit, journalistic source that presents the basic issues surrounding the fight for health care reform.  This article written by Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn was published February 5^th.   
2. This site shows many attempts throughout history to improve the availability of health care in the United States.  The first attempt was as early as 1912 with Teddy Roosevelt trying to include a health care platform.  A major change came when Lyndon B. Johnson managed to push through Medicare and Medicaid program in 1965.  In  the early 90’s, President Clinton put forward a health care reform plan, but it failed to pass Congress.  Efforts along these lines continue with the current Obama administration.  The majority of Democrats are behind the President in his efforts to pass the current health care reform bill.  This source is pretty balanced showing the health care history for both parties.  It shows that there have been multiple attempts to change health care system from the early years to the present time.
3. In an interview with health care reform liaison, Lorna Hayden, she stated, “The health care debate about how to best make affordable, quality insurance available to the 45 million uninsured and underinsured has dominated U.S. law makers for the entire first year of the Obama Presidency.  The progressive, far left members of Congress originally asked for a ‘single-payer option’ which exists in many modern industrialized nations.  This is often referred to as ‘socialized medicine’.  The idea of a public option was put forth as a compromise between the far left and right wing ideas about health care reform.”  She also pointed out that judging by their voting, the right wing Republicans see no need to change the private health care plans. 
4. The Democrats, White house and rank-and-file members of Congress have been working around the clock to find things in common in order to keep the health care bill moving forward.  This is a journalistic source that is helping the health care bill stay afloat and get it passed.  It was written by Brianna Keilar a CNN congressional correspondent on January 11^th.   In this article it shows the determination of the Democrats to modify the bill to get it passed because it will help benefit Americans and cut down the number of uninsured people. 
5. The difference between the House health care bill and the Senate is about five percent which includes the public option with Obama assuring anyone without insurance will be covered at a reasonable cost. This article was written by Sam Youngman on December 21, 2009 and is a journalistic source.  This source was helpful because it pointed out the obstacles to passage of a comprehensive health care plan which included a public option.      
6. This site tells about President Obama’s health care summit at the Blair House on February 25^th, which included both parties to talk about the health care overhaul.  In the argument of whether or not to include the public option, this institutional site helps show the positive reasons on why it should be included and the benefits of it.  This source was valuable to refer back to throughout this paper, because it carefully assessed the information for accuracy. 
7. This site talks about the Republican Party’s opposition to the health care bill put forward by the Democrats and why the public option is a part of what they’re rejecting.  This institutional source shows the side of the Republican Party, which opposes the bill but does not provide a solution to help reduce the cost of insurance or to cover the large amount of uninsured Americans.  It was helpful in writing this paper because it gave the other side of the basic question. 
8. A 10 year health plan that President Barack Obama has proposed would cost $1 trillion, but it would also help control the insurance company’s outrageous costs that upset people.  This is a journalistic source that was written by Ricardo Alonzo-Zaldivar on February 22^nd.  It shows the effort of the President to get the health care bill passed because he believes it will benefit many more Americans while it controls costs. 
9. This is a liberal grass roots group that is attempting to organize a popular movement to demand that the House and Senate truly represent the people and include a public option in the final version of the health care bill sometime in the next couple months.  This institutional source shows the widespread support behind the public option which should be included in the health care bill. 

10.  The white house web site gives an overview of the health care bill and current news of what is being done with it.  President Obama, as head of the Democratic Party, gives details about what the administration wants in the bill and the effects of those provisions if it passes.  In this institutional site it explains in detail the results of the new health care bill and its effect on you, whether you already have insurance through a job or are uninsured.  This source gave a wealth of information, but it definitely is biased towards the Obama administration.  For that reason other sources were necessary to balance this presentation.