Monday, March 22, 2010

Plop, plop! Fizz, fizz...!

Oh, what a relief it is! Alka-Seltzer has nothing on the pill that Congress (finally!) prescribed last night to reform the health care system in this country. I know, I know. Like many of my readers, I would have preferred something more... radical. But I believe that our Barack Obama has an instinctive, practical wisdom about the minimum and maximum achievable, and that he gauged this right, not for me personally, but for the country. And he got it done. Kudos to him, and to Nancy Pelosi and the House leaders, for this great achievement. A vast number of Americans will rest easier for this legislation, particularly the most vulnerable among us--those who do not have, or choose not to use, the megaphone of the Tea Party-ers and other right-wing conservatives. These are the people who have written anguished letters to their representatives and to the President, whose very lives are threatened by the callous, bottom-line priorities of the insurance companies, and who face the threat of bankruptcy and family disintegration.

Bravo, then, Democrats! Shame on Republicans for their cynical, lock-step rejectionism. Not one could summon the courage to cast a vote in favor of this much-needed change. Not one!

5 comments:

Cardozo said...

I'm not surprised there weren't any GOP votes. I think this legislation is more progressive than the conventional wisdom purports.

Nine hundred BILLION in direct subsidies to the poor, taken from tax increases on investment income and high-cost insurance plans.

Tax increases and direct assistance to the poor? That's a nightmare to most Republicans.

LillianAbel said...

We have excellent coverage (actually two policies between my husband and me). However, I know so many who desperately need insurance. Thank you Mr. President for all your hard work and dedication. You will be honored in History.

The lunatic fringe is very scary and so is the Republican resistance. I find so much in this world unbeleiveable. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a movie about good and evil. I hope it has a happy ending of "do the right thing".

Taradharma said...

Like so many others, I stayed in a job for too many years only for the health insurance benefits. This will now become a thing of the past. So proud that our elected officials did the right thing. My disgust of republicans knows no bounds....

CHI SPHERE said...

There have been parties in the past that simply faded away or imploded:

America First Party (2008)
American Party (1968)
America's Independent Party (2008)
Boston Tea Party (2006)
Communist Party USA (1919)
Independence Party of America (2007)
Moderate Party (2006)
Modern Whig Party (2008)
Objectivist Party (2008)
Party for Socialism and Liberation (2004)
Peace and Freedom Party (1967)
Prohibition Party (1869)
Reform Party of the United States of America (1995)
Socialist Equality Party (2008)
Socialist Party USA (1973)
Socialist Workers Party (1938)
United States Marijuana Party (2002)
Unity Party of America (2004)
Workers World Party (1959)
Working Families Party (1998)

The GOP may join the imploded list soon!

The party of YES WE CAN! will do the people's work
while others practice denial and foot dragging until the soles of their shoes wear holes in them. They are their own worst enemy.

My president keeps shooting 3 pointers and makes good on his promises.

Sour grapes just make vinegar!

Richard said...

I'd been keeping an eye on this from across the pond during my hiatus from blogging and was very afraid that it wouldn't get passed.

I think that he achieved as much as he reasonably could at this time, the zeitgeist only moves so fast, to try to run too far ahead would have been disastrous.

Speaking as someone who would have died at birth without the UK's NHS, I think this was a great step in the right direction.