http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/07/house-hea...

:D

220 to 215, only a single Republican vote. Criteria for bi-partisanship accomplished! :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sogKUx_q7ig

On CNN they speak of the ability to now get health care from the government, which may or may not be more expensive than private insurers. I assume that is the public option?

House passed this, but now the Senate has to too

Can only do so much with so many rich old white men getting their pockets stuffed with dollars.

The Senate still has work to do, but even Republicans see the writing on the wall, it's going to happen.

Leibermann's fillibuster threats are just that. He will fall in line in the end. Obama could have had his behind stripped of his chairmanship inside the Senate, but avoided having anyone do so, primarily for a moment like this. Obama will call in the favor, just give it time.

This bill that was recently passed makes it illegal to deny for pre-existing conditions. That alone is absolutely significant, even if every other aspect of the bill were to be an utter failure, which surely shouldn't be the case.

Another thing that can no longer happen thanks to this bill, is that the moment someone becomes very ill, their coverage gets watered down or dropped entirely, or they have to come out of pocket, despite the fact that they are consistently meeting their premium payments. No more will someone be making their premium payments, only for their Health Care to get watered down or dropped when they need it the most.

Another thing that can no longer happen, is that no longer can caps be placed on how much coverage a person can get in any given year. These are just a small number of things that will take effect as a result of this bill that will go a very long way to altering how Health Care operates in this Country, even if nothing else would change as a result of this bill.

Is the bill perfect? Hell no, the public option is watered down, but it's a necessary step nonetheless. There will be opportunities to strengthen the steps that were taken with this bill later down the road.

There are even some amazing things in place for the youngest among us. I forgot what age it was, but it's now possible for younger individuals to stay on their parents plan, well into their mid 20s, if I recall.

Kucinich is one of this countrie's greatest leaders in my opinion. That will surely bring out the laughter in some folks, but I respect what the man stands for, and his conviction.

If the bill were ever in danger of not passing, I'm certain Kucinich would have saved the day, but would have done so with great disgust, and would have expressed exactly that immediately.

Even the republicans know it's coming. What happens here, and what will happen in the Senate, is a small step towards the REAL prize. Single Payer!!

It's so funny though, a republican party that has prided themselves on competition and choice, is completely on the opposite side of competition and choice. The only possible thing that could save us, is if the dems, REAL dems, clean up in 2010, but I don't know. Obama and his allies need to find a way to make 2010 matter as much as 2008 did, or as much as 2012 will. We need to get out of the habit of only showing up for the World Series (Presidential Election Years) and not paying attention to the playoffs (Mid Term Elections)

Yeah I like the revisions they've made. This was never going to be a huge change I don't think, needs to be gradual. I like the revisions to abortion, pre existing conditions, the government option, etc. Regardless of what it lives up to, it is an achievement. It was really a sad display seeing the show go on though, seeing what a lot of the senate really cared about. Not to mention how disgusting a lot of the country was at some of the town hall meetings. It was depressing.

They are just a loud minority. The only reason why you don't see a much larger coalition of people out there protesting in support of reform or Obama's agenda, is because a lot of them put their heart into making sure he got elected, and simply can't be bothered to dedicate themselves as much to the hard policy fights as they did with the actual election.

Now, that isn't to say that people aren't out there fighting in favor of what we voted for, and no doubt some are disappointed by some of the delays that have taken place, like why it seems so damn difficult to up and shut down Guantanimo already, or why 'don't ask don't tell' hasn't been annihilated with an executive order until it can be changed forever through congress. For the most part though, people that are acting so disgusting, are just a loud minority. It's no different than when many of them came out and embarrassed themselves, as well as the Country, during the election. You would see a few hundred or thousands acting a fool, then you'd see tens of thousands, or in some cases, 100,000+ supporting Obama's candidacy while not conducting themselves in such a fashion. I'm not saying that extremes don't exist on both sides, but Obama rallys sure as hell weren't as disgusting as those McCain/Palin rallys, or as pitiful as a lot of these teabag protests led by idiots like Glenn Beck and shameful individuals like Michelle Bachmann appear to be.

They were trounced during the election because they were in the minority. Their only hopes of winning anything at all, is for democratic turn out to not happen.

It's going to be a very rude awakening for some when other aspects of the stimulus start kicking in next year. It's already done a lot of good, but as anyone knows, the jobs are always the last thing to go when times get hard, and always the last to return when times get good. Even though you expect it from the Republican Party regardless, there are many examples of the stimulus working. Hell, some of the very projects and funding that republicans go back to their states or districts and brag about, were directly funded by the stimulus, but they never openly admit it, because that would be giving credit to the stimulus they voted against.

Judging from some of the vague info the news stations are spouting out, this bill sounds very strange.
Nothing like what I was expecting.

I'm going to have to read up on it too, because I have no idea what is going on.

You better believe it.

alright back to misty palm trees and witches...

Okay apparently I misread. Abortion rights are getting facked. I thought they were improving them, but I guess not

It's actually going to decrease the deficit by up to $180 billion according to the congressional budget office. It's surely a deficit neutral bill. Even if the CBO miscalculates, the deficit would still be ensured to drop by about 80 to 100 billion dollars.

People are getting very nervous about the abortion rights aspect of the bill, but we shouldn't be too worried about any of that for a number of reasons.

There is the conference between the two bills to think about, and it should surely get stripped out there. Then, there are some who are worried about not getting a public option in the Senate version of the bill. Well, here is how the beauty of our government kicks in.

Even though there are ways to get Liebermann to fall in line, let's say he doesn't and absolutely wants the public option out of the bill. No problem at all! Take it out of the Senate Version of the Health Care Bill, it will still make it's way right back in there when conference time between the two bills arrives. They'll just adopt the House public option. Now, on to that abortion matter. It can absolutely arrive at Obama's desk with the same language contained inside of it. That's the beauty of having the White House. Obama can simply use a presidential signing statement to pick and choose what gets enforced, from what doesn't

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signing_statement

Now, I'll be clear, I'm 100% against abortion. The way I look at the issue is like this: What if my grandmother never gave birth to my mother? That alone would mean myself nor my two brothers would ever be born, and it would also mean my 3 nephews wouldn't have been born either. That's six lives gone from a single abortion.

People always tend to look at the issue as if we are dealing with a single human life, but in reality we really aren't. If someone ever asks me what they should do regarding an unborn child, my answer will always be a bias one. You should absolutely have the kid. However, now just because I'm against it, doesn't mean I can possibly support the ridiculous language contained inside that stupak (is this how it's spelled?) amendment abortion bill. It doesn't just impact those interested in having abortions, it impacts those who may have plans that may cover abortion expenses. This is way too far reaching and stupid.

As bad as this bill may be though, it isn't quite as bad as the bill that was passed to strip acorn of it's federal funding. Did you know that, under the language contained within that bill, it's now possible for the government to strip any and all institutions of their funding, not even limited to just ones that receive government money either! For the very individuals who always whine about government takeover this, governement takeover that, they sure do never hesitate to draft legislation that does exactly that! :)

This bill isn't perfect, the senate one won't be perfect either, but at least it makes some very vital improvements that were much needed in this country for a long time. We need a single payer system, and thanks to these reforms, we are a couple steps closer.

Oh, and worst case scenario for Senate? Reconiliation and we get a far stronger public option as a result, and we apply that monster public option to the various health insurance reforms inside the House bill.

No matter how this goes down, or however conservative democrats or republicans wish for it to go down, in the end, it will still end in victory for Obama and progressives. Republicans apparently plan to use some epic stall tactics that, if done correctly, could potentially slow things up to middle of next year, but that's only if idiot democrats allow it to take place.

If they don't get healthcare reform done before Obama's next budget comes around next year, health care reform is dead.