Our government has made a number of promises to the men and women who served in our nation's armed forces. Sadly these promises of health care education and other benefits have existed more in rhetoric than in reality.

The good news is Americans know firsthand the benefits of a free market - more choices lower prices higher quality - and there is no reason why we cannot help them see these same benefits in health care.

More than five million seniors have already saved money on their prescription drugs and almost 33 million have benefited from free preventive services. The president cracked down hard on Medicare and health care fraud recovering a record-breaking $10.7 billion over the last three years protecting our seniors. That's what change looks like.

In my case I pay a standard premium to participate in the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Plan for my wife and myself out of each month's paycheck.

Col. Shaffer is prohibited by his lawyer from talking. He's at great risk. They want to take away his pay and his health care benefits so they can hold it over his head and not allow him to talk while he's under suspension. This is not America.

I was for civil unions and believed strongly that the flow of benefits and protections that would be provided in a civil union for same-sex couples the decisions that have to be made when health hardships are faced when economic hardships are faced I wanted all of those protections. I never strayed from them.

But at the end of the day we need to represent the taxpayers who have made enormous sacrifices. Many have lost their jobs. Many of them have seen their companies - they don't have a pension - they have seen their companies cut the match for their 401(k). They have seen their health care benefits be shredded.

While some people are certainly seeing economic benefits many others are unemployed underemployed without health insurance and struggling to make ends meet.

It is essential that the women's preventive coverage benefit including contraception be available to all women regardless of what health plan they have or where they work - as Congress intended. Providing access to birth control just makes good sense.

I would prefer a public option that would be a competitive option that would allow people to buy into a Federal Employee Health Benefits Program which is a series of private plans.