Health care reform supporters ride to rally

TAMPA - Early Saturday morning supporters of health care reform gathered in Tampa ready to make the trip to Orlando.

“The elderly, the young people, the babies that can’t help themselves, we can’t just leave them out in the cold and say ‘well I have mine, they gotta get theirs like I got mine.' That’s not right. That’s un-American,” said health care reform supporter Shirley Lyons.

To this point, many of the demonstrations that we’ve seen have been opposing the current health care bill. Some have gotten ugly.

This time, they’re rallying in support of reform.

Verna Pearson, who works as a nurse, says thanks to misinformation, many Americans have the wrong idea.

“It’s not going to be free health care. It’s going to be a more affordable health care. That’s what we’re trying to push,” according to Pearson.

Once everyone was on board, the bus headed off towards central Florida.

Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson spoke to a relatively peaceful crowd in downtown Orlando.

“This debate is about life and about health and about saving money. People have asked me, ‘will you vote for a bill if it has this in it? Will you vote for a bill if it has that in it?’ What I care about is I want to see a bill that saves money and saves lives,” said Grayson.

But many have fiercely opposed the current bill, equating the public option of government-run health care to socialized health care.

Some say with the loss of Senator Ted Kennedy, health care reform will now be more difficult.

Many democrats agree the burden of what’s next now falls to President Obama.

“It’s up to the President after he comes back from his vacation to really take a stand, to take ownership of this bill, to define what he wants. Does he want a public option? Does he want an employer mandate? And to guide this process toward a smooth landing,” explained Igor Volsky of the Center for American Progress.

There were rallies around the country Saturday, both in support and opposition of the current health care bill, including in New York City where nearly one thousand people gathered shortly after Kennedy’s funeral.

The fate of the health care bill will be settled once congress returns from recess after Labor Day.