In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.
The 220-215 vote cleared the way for the Senate to begin a long-delayed debate on the issue that has come to overshadow all others in Congress.
Never fear opponents of health care reform, this vote doesn't necessarily bring health care reform all that much closer to passage. This barely passed the House. It will have a much higher hurdle in the Senate.
Of course, we still have no idea what will be in the final legislation. That's because the Senate version will look totally different than the House, if there is a Senate version at all. Then, merging the two will go on behind closed doors.
For all those in support of health care reform that think this is monumentous, remember the House passed climate change legislation earlier in the year by a slightly wider margin with more Republican support. That legislation is languishing in the Senate. It's nowhere near becoming law.
The Senate will be lucky to put something out by the end of the year. It has almost no chance of passing the Senate before the end of the year. That will put this debate into 2010. It's nearly impossible to pass anything this controversial that close to an election. I'm still sticking with the prediction that sweeping health care reform, at least, will not pass.
Thirty nine Democrats voted against the bill and one Republican, Joseph Cao, voted for the bill.
5 comments:
Hmm..
"Never fear opponents of health care reform, this vote doesn't necessarily bring health care reform all that much closer to passage. This barely passed the House. It will have a much higher hurdle in the Senate."
I know "my type" is regarded is a little hyper sensitive by those who wish to be seen as balanced, but given the fact that somehow we have elected a full blown socialist with fascist tendencies to our highest office, I take nothing for granted any more.
It COULD happen... That is bad enough.
Hmm,
there appear to be a lot of code words in there meant for me. First, I don't wish to be seen as anything but Mike Volpe.
I'm not sure we elected a full blown socialist, though it's a bit too close. I also don't think constantly referring to him as a socialist is all that helpful anyway.
A lot of things could happen. If you worry about all of them you turn into Adrian Monk.
Glad to see you back despite my blasphemy against Malkin. New piece coming. I "know you'll love it".
In the end, the Democrats will have appeased the ultra-right so much with that nonsense about immigrants and abortion that the bill, and the Democrats themselves, will no longer be worth voting for anymore.
Given your interest, you might want to check out the http://www.lastingliberty.com/ piece on the healthcare debate : Bigger Than Healthcare
I'd prefer full-blown socialism to the actual fascism that we're moving towards. One only needs to look at the bank bailouts and regulation reforms they're proposing to see it. The Federal Reserve and banks "too big to fail" are running the world's economy at our expense. The way they "fix" the economy is by completely destroying the dollar (and the middle class) and leading us towards a new world currency which will be followed by world government.
It's hard not to sound like a lunatic conspiracy theorist anymore, but it's impossible for me not to believe in a lot of it.
Socialism at least gives the people something more than fascism does. For the record, I'm a libertarian and prefer none of this.
Post a Comment