Patricia Guadalupe Columnist

It advances in the federal Senate the legislation on a health reform, this week in the Committee of Finance with the vote of 14 in favor and 9 in against. There was only a republican vote in favor, that of senator Olympia Snowe, of the state of Maine. But she says herself that because he should have voted in favor this time, she does not mean that it is going to do the same when one votes for the final version. And the fact is that it is still a slope above trying to obtain an approval for so important topic. Many republicans – and even some democrats - say to be against, and they will keep on pressing so that nothing is achieved.

Also there is the whole variety of groups that are not satisfied by what the committee has achieved till now. First that this version does not include the called “public option” of medical coverage, protected by the federal government. Also, it leaves out the undocumented immigrants, and it is required that the legal residents should wait five years before being able to take part, although they pay it of their own pocket. There are those who are against because it includes the possibility of an increase in some taxes, while others say that the price of more than $ 800.000 millions is too much.

This version of the committee will be combined with that of the Committee of Health to see what would be the final writing that would take to the Plenary meeting of the senate. The version of the Committee of Health yes includes the public option, and one hopes that a big one fights when they meet to discuss everything. And it is still lacking to see what will do the Lower House. Nobody knows exactly what will be in the final version of the legislation that thinks about how to extend medical coverage to a residents' major quantity of the country. But what yes it is known with enough accuracy that is that the immigrants – again - stay out. The antiimmigrant ambience is such that not when they can pay it of their own pocket include the immigrants who are here legally in the country. And they prefer to have the whole quantity of the sick people and without access to simple medical service and simply because they are here without roles. Many of these legislators prefer this risk because they do not have the valor to face to all this racist ball that from a lot of time has been used to the migratory community like a sand sack to practise the boxing.

Meanwhile, several persons' trailers came with banners to Washington DC to demand that the Congress and the White House should wake up and they already should discuss the topic of a migratory reform. Conferee Luis Gutiérrez, of Chicago – the one who has criticized his companions and the White House for lack of movement in the topic – protects a legislation similar to the one that has appeared in the past, but he says that this time must take an urgency character, especially when they continue incessantly the raids. “We cannot wait five or ten years so that anything should be done”, affirmed the conferee, who assures as well as the topic will touch at the end of November. That is for see.