Take a Good Look at the Health Care Bills with Easy-to-Use Search Feature

The health care reform bill has finally passed the House of Reps, and man, is it . . . big. I hate to draw any more attention to that fact--boneheaded pundits from around the cable news circuit have already focused their attention on that fact. As if the sheer size of a piece of legislation somehow means it's faulty, instead of, says, carefully crafted.

Anyhow. The Senate has just released its version of the bill, and . . . it, too, is big. Now, you're likely still curious about what's in both of them--but maybe not curious enough to leaf through all 2,047 pages. Thankfully, the New York Times is going to help meet you halfway.

They've got a handy feature that allows you to scan both documents, or see all the differences between the two versions on a single page--making the experience of dissecting and making sense of the thing much easier. It's called, aptly, Search the Senate Bill, and it finds any keywords you'd so desire to search for in the hulking text of both documents.

It's also useful being able to go through and see the exact language surrounding those many 'controversial' clauses you've no doubt gotten more familiar than you'd like to be with over the last couple months. Find out what's actually written about the notorious 'public option.' Type in 'death panels' and see what comes up. (Hint: nothing)

So go on, find out for yourself what's actually inside the contentious bill--I bet you've had a discussion about the thing, maybe even an argument or two, and you've never scanned the actual text. Just saying--I hadn't either until I checked out this feature. Remember, health care reform is going to be central to a healthy, and yes, green and good future in the USA. Get yourself up to speed.