After a bruising year, the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Health Reform Bill by seven votes, not one of which was Republican. I believe eventually historians will view it as an historic moment when America did the right thing and provided the beginnings of universal health care for most Americans. I predict that a majority of Americans in the next five years will appreciate what a major and necessary reform of medical coverage this bill represents. The doomsayers are bleating it is the end of the world and the decline of America, a theory to which I do not subscribe.
Certainly it has flaws and shortcomings and, as I said in a recent blog, I'm sure revisions will be made, I hope, on a bipartisan basis after it has been in effect for some time. Once the political posturing and misconceptions begin to clear away, maybe we can have some cool level-headed thinking and analysis from both parties.
I have to admire the obstinacy and devotion of President Obama to the cause. I, for one, began to question whether he should have bitten off smaller chunks and settled for less as a start. I understand even his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was thinking that way. But, in the nick of time, the President threw his whole weight and energy into the passage of the bill and pulled it off. Whether you agree or not with his first priority to health care, when many thought he should have put his full effort into job creation, he thought this passage deserved top priority and stuck to his principles. I, for one, don't think he has neglected job creation, but the problems are so chronic and deep within the system that immediate magical results just won't happen.
The House passing of the bill is Act I. Now we open the curtain on Act II in the Senate. Act III will be the President signing the legislation into law. A lot of drama may enfold in the Act II, but I do believe Act III will end the play. All we can do now is sit and watch, but I think I know the ending now.
It's not perfect, but it's a start.
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