Healthcare Reform

I have no idea if the healthcare reform bill is the right type of reform for the problems the system faces. I am certain that this does not mean the end of the current system, or the economy, as the Republicans would have us believe. Is this bill as important as those that established Medicare or Social Security? Probably not, but it's pretty substantial and the thing that impressed me most about this bill is that despite all the negativity (mostly misleading information) this bill was passed anyway. Congress has had such a problem getting things done despite the large Democratic majority, and yet this bill made it through.

The entire debate was pretty sad. Many would say it's a "big vs small government" debate, but I'm not sure if that can explain how emotional it was. Why did Republicans who don't want "government controlled medicine" also say they didn't want changes to Medicare? Don't people realize that Medicare / Medicaid make up nearly 45% of all healthcare spending already? That means the government already controls half of medical spending.

So now we'll see what happens. I'm glad that Democrats decided to vote with their beliefs and not worry about the polls. Meanwhile the Republicans threaten Democrats with the idea that they'll lose big in November. Maybe, but I suspect by November there will be new issues to be angry about. Better to lose with something you believe in than to win by doing nothing.