(update below)
So proclaimed the start of the main headline on USA Today's Monday edition. It was those three words that Republicans wanted to avoid more than anything else and why all of them voted against health care reform.
A victory for Obama means he can accomplish something. In this case, one of the most vexing issues in American political history.
Another major issue was civil rights. It must be remembered that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was filibustered for 83 days before the opposition caved and history was made.
Newt Gingrich, a presidential aspirant, now predicts electoral catastrophe for Democrats over health care much as they suffered from civil rights. Talk about being on the wrong side of history, Newt.
Major change never comes easily in America. Afterall, we fought a civil war over slavery.
And health care reform has been a battle for at least 50 years. FDR considered it a fundamental right, but World War II intervened. European nations, which suffered the most during that conflict, understood that if they could kill so easily, maybe they could care for each other just as easily. Americans haven't yet come to this realization. Perhaps, this bill will help.
Yes, the health care reform bill isn't perfect. It doesn't allow for a public option or single payer. It doesn't rein in the big pharmaceutical companies or for-profit insurance companies, which are the major culprits in our health care crisis. Jacking up rates between 20 percent and 40 percent every year is the reason why insurance cartels need to be throttled. Also, big pharma charges more for drugs here than it does elsewhere and that is just wrong.
The anti-abortion Democrats, led by Rep. Bart Stupak, apparently got some favorable treatment from the White House on that issue. Those Dems don't seem to grasp that nothing aggravates women more than have men decide their health care for them.
Still, the bill will allow more Americans to get health coverage. Insurance companies can't reject potential customers based on pre-existing conditions. (With newfound DNA technology, almost all illnesses could be considered pre-existing.) Also, insurance firms can no longer terminate policies of those who get seriously ill. Really? Did we need a law for that? Yep.
And for all the doom-and-gloomers out there, the Teabaggers and Republicans, the sky didn't fall this morning. The sun rose in the east and will set in the west.
The stock market rose. Yes, even the money crowd was relieved that this bill passed.
It's time to move onward and upward. It's not only victory for Obama, but for Americans as well.
Update: Some worthwhile links:
David Frum: "Most crushing legislative defeat ..."
Michael Moore: "It will save Republican lives, too."
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