Carl Hulse and Robert Pear, for The New York Times have it thus, tonight:
. . . .Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, lawmakers voted to approve a $1.1 trillion, 10-year plan that Democrats said could be their defining social policy achievement. . . .
Democrats say the measure — paid for through new fees and taxes, along with cuts in Medicare — would extend coverage to 36 million people now without insurance and would create a government health insurance program. It would end insurance company practices like not covering pre-existing conditions or dropping people when they become ill.
The successful vote came after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill just before noon Saturday to make a personal appeal for lawmakers to "answer the call of history" and support the bill. . . .
So, now it's on to the Senate,where -- at least many of us believe -- the bill can, and will, be improved. But this passage in the U.S. House already places President Obama's efforts well-beyond where the Clinton-Gore efforts at real health care reform faltered -- about 16 years ago.
I do think it is really going to happen -- and the package will be improved, in the Senate conference process. If you own health insurance stocks, I'd rethink that, in premarket trading Monday on the NASDAQ.
2 comments:
When Rep. John Bohner (and House minority leader) says he doesn't think the restrictions on abortion funding will survive in the Senate version, and thus will not be in the final version of the act the President signs -- I'd listen to him (from no less a souce than the RNC's broadcast booth, a/k/a FoxNews):
"I have my doubts this language if it passes has any chance of being in the final version of this bill," Boehner said. . . .
Legislating is sausage making. And we are not done with that process, yet. While I disfavor the Stupak measure -- I do understand that there are larger goals here. I also understand that it is unlikely that the final version President Obama ultimately signs will make any such divisive-bow.
Namaste
This thread was spammed in late 2009, by some early Asian Anime porn bots, so I just stopped looking -- and never answered here.
For that, I apologize.
The bots are gone now -- and as we saw, in early 2010 -- what became the ACA of 2010 passed (minus the Stupak restrictions measure).
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Namaste. . . .
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