Health Care Reform has become a reality, against the wishes of the vast number of Republicans in the country. With a 219-212 vote, the House passed the Senate approved bill on Sunday, sending it to the President’s desk for signature, which is assured. Whether the Senate, which takes possession of the bill now, chooses to act or not, it’s a done deal, only requiring Obama’s signature.
It remained heated until the end, with Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, declaring the bill the "Civil Rights Act of the 21st century," while Republican Lincoln Diaz-Balart from Florida called it "a decisive step in the weakening of the United States."
One thing is sure, virtually all our politicians have become nothing more than career lobbyist supporters, as the bill is far more weakened than it started out to be. While Democrats certainly share the blame in the watering down of this vital piece of legislation, nothing will erase the disgraceful and shameful acts and words of conservatives and Republicans across the nation who dove into a world of fearful fantasy in a (successful) attempt to gather weak minded Americans to their cause, all in an effort to protect their corporate funding.
I thought the Presidency of GW Bush was as low as it could go, but watching the orchestrated and anti-American rhetoric of Republicans and conservatives throughout this debate has shamed this country more than anything I can recall. Who was against health care reform? Conservative Americans who have health insurance and a lack of interest in the truth, that’s who. All those "patriotic" Americans who continue to shout down the debate, yelling about the cost (which actually, according to the terms of the bill, will create savings over time…) when they don’t object to the cost of the illegal war overseas, which would have easily funded health care for ALL Americans.
True, this bill is not radical enough. As Obama put it, “This isn’t radical reform,” he added, “but it is major reform.”
But a start is a start. And as Americans have consistently proven, they are, for the most part, lacking in logic and reason, but welcoming to group mentality and easily adaptable to societal norm. Once in place, without a doubt, a certain percentage of limp minded Americans will support the new legislation, even if they can’t explain why. After that, the rest is in the tweaking.
America is not a bright nation. At least this provides a light at the end of the chaotic tunnel. Moths move toward the light, don’t they?
