Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Extreme Tea Party sentiments have reach

The reaction to my last post on Tea Party America (article is below thus one)was predictable. There were three comments that caught my eye that highlight why President Obama's rallying cry to the spirit of America fall's on deaf ears among many in the Tea Party movement. More frightening, their deep mistrust of him is more widely shared than you'd imagine.

"His aspiration is to socialize the U.S., though he'd probably settle for remaking it in Europe's image in the short term," wrote stratman1. "That's why he doesn't resonate with many of us."

"Obama is a Marxist and he wants the US to be a Marxist state just like his real home Kenya is becoming. He is a Manchurian candidate," scribbled stephenlubinsbcglobalnet. "No-one knows where he was born, who his parents are, or anything else about him. But we do know he is a Marxist who is destroying this coutnry.[sic]"

"NoBama hates this country and everything for which it stands," noted PhanMan69. "He is ashamed and apologizes for the leadership that the US has provided the world. He does not believe that America is exceptional and is doing his best to grind what's left into the ground...No President of mine takes the oath of office and then shreds the Constitution that he swore to defend."

Vitriol is not wholly owned by the right. There are extremists on the left who have called former president George W. Bush a war criminal, a fascist and worse. But their thunder against the Republican president never had the edgy tinge that we're seeing from the extremes of the Tea Party movement. Their boisterous displays of anger during the health-care votes at the Capitol last weekend -- egged on by irresponsible lawmakers -- is a worrisome escalation.

John Avlon, one-time speechwriter to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a latter-day Paul Revere, has been warning one and all about the far-right extremists who are taking over the Republican Party and polluting political discourse. His latest piece for The Daily Beast, "Scary New GOP Poll," puts numbers behind the concern and shows how wide the mistrust of Obama is.
* 67 percent of Republicans (and 40 percent of Americans overall) believe that Obama is a socialist.
* 57 percent of Republicans (32 percent overall) believe that Obama is a Muslim
* 45 percent of Republicans (25 percent overall) agree with the Birthers in their belief that Obama was "not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president"
* 38 percent of Republicans (20 percent overall) say that Obama is "doing many of the things that Hitler did"
* 24 percent of Republicans (14 percent overall) say that Obama "may be the Antichrist."
That last data point would be hilarious were the implications not so scary. And rather than speak out against those who foment these corrosive views, "leaders" in the Republican Party are content to feed and ride the wave of discontent for short-term political gain. As David Frum wrote in his Waterloo blog posting on Sunday, by mobilizing supporters "with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead." This is too high a price to pay for a nation that desperately needs leadership from both sides of the aisle to solve problems that can no longer be ignored.

A message from President Obama to Tea Party America

It irks me to no end that there are some sinister folks out there who so mistrust President Obama that they openly -- and without shame -- wonder whether he is some Manchurian Candidate sent here to destroy the United States. That's why I found the following section of Obama's East Room oration particularly gratifying. He speaks to the true character of this nation in only the way a president can.
"But today, we are affirming that essential truth -– a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself –- that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. (Applause.) We are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. We don't fall prey to fear. We are not a nation that does what’s easy. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we got here.

We are a nation that faces its challenges and accepts its responsibilities. We are a nation that does what is hard. What is necessary. What is right. Here, in this country, we shape our own destiny. That is what we do. That is who we are. That is what makes us the United States of America."
Tea Partiers love this country. For far too many of them, it's a twisted, exclusionary kind of love. But it's love all the same. So, what part of what the president said does not resonate with them? I can't wait for the response.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

SHAME SARA PALIN

Don’t Get Demoralized! Get Organized! Take Back the 20!

Today at 1:18pm

With the president signing this unwanted and “transformative” government takeover of our health care system today with promises impossible to keep, let’s not get discouraged. Don’t get demoralized. Get organized!

We’re going to reclaim the power of the people from those who disregarded the will of the people. We’re going to fire them and send them back to the private sector, which has been shrinking thanks to their destructive government-growing policies. Maybe when they join the millions of unemployed, they’ll understand why Americans wanted them to focus on job creation and an invigorated private sector. Come November, we’re going to print pink slips for members of Congress as fast as they’ve been printing money.

We’re paying particular attention to those House members who voted in favor of Obamacare and represent districts that Senator John McCain and I carried during the 2008 election. Three of these House members are retiring – from Arkansas’s 2nd district, Indiana’s 8th district, and Tennessee’s 6th district – but we’ll be working to make sure that those who replace them are Commonsense Conservatives. The others are running for re-election, and we’re going to hold them accountable for this disastrous Obamacare vote. They are: Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-1), Harry E. Mitchell (AZ-5), Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), John Salazar (CO-3), Betsy Markey (CO-4). Allen Boyd (FL-2), Suzanne M. Kosmas (FL-24), Baron P. Hill (IN-9), Earl Pomeroy (ND-AL), Charlie Wilson (OH-6), John Boccieri (OH-16), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-3), Christopher Carney (PA-10), John M. Spratt, Jr. (SC-5), Tom Perriello (VA-5), Alan B. Mollohan (WV-1), and Nick J. Rahall II (WV-3).

We’ll aim for these races and many others. This is just the first salvo in a fight to elect people across the nation who will bring common sense to Washington. Please go to sarahpac.com and join me in the fight.

Stand tall, America. Real change is coming!

- Sarah Palin

SHAME ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE TEA BAGGERS

Take a gander at what Republicans and tea partiersa are saying and going to try and do. If what this health bill is suppose to do happens, do you really think the PEOPLE are going to let the Republicans try and take it away, I do not think so. They are just mad that the bill went threw. They said for days that the House did not have enough votes, that it will be the down fall of Pres. Obama. So they are going to do what ever they can to make this bill now a law unconstitutional. Just take a look at these videos.....

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President Barack Obama's signature on the health insurance reform bill at the White House, March 23, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

"On Behalf of My Mother"

Posted by Jesse Lee on March 23, 2010 at 01:33 PM EDT

This morning the President made it official: things are going to change quite a bit between Americans and their health insurance companies. The President signed health reform into law, with a package of fixes not far behind, and in the process created a future for the country in which Americans and small businesses are in control of their own health care, not the insurance industry.

Learn what reform means for you.

Having expressed all due admiration for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Leader Harry Reid, and those Members of Congress who showed the courage to stand up to an avalanche of misinformation and insurance industry attacks, the President explained what the signing was really about:

Today, I’m signing this reform bill into law on behalf of my mother, who argued with insurance companies even as she battled cancer in her final days.
I’m signing it for Ryan Smith, who’s here today. He runs a small business with five employees. He’s trying to do the right thing, paying half the cost of coverage for his workers. This bill will help him afford that coverage.
I’m signing it for 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who’s also here. (Applause.) Marcelas lost his mom to an illness. And she didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the care that she needed. So in her memory he has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what his family has experienced. (Applause.)
I’m signing it for Natoma Canfield. Natoma had to give up her health coverage after her rates were jacked up by more than 40 percent. She was terrified that an illness would mean she’d lose the house that her parents built, so she gave up her insurance. Now she’s lying in a hospital bed, as we speak, faced with just such an illness, praying that she can somehow afford to get well without insurance. Natoma’s family is here today because Natoma can’t be. And her sister Connie is here. Connie, stand up. (Applause.)
I’m signing this bill for all the leaders who took up this cause through the generations -- from Teddy Roosevelt to Franklin Roosevelt, from Harry Truman, to Lyndon Johnson, from Bill and Hillary Clinton, to one of the deans who’s been fighting this so long, John Dingell. (Applause.) To Senator Ted Kennedy. (Applause.) And it’s fitting that Ted’s widow, Vicki, is here -- it’s fitting that Teddy’s widow, Vicki, is here; and his niece Caroline; his son Patrick, whose vote helped make this reform a reality. (Applause.)
I remember seeing Ted walk through that door in a summit in this room a year ago -- one of his last public appearances. And it was hard for him to make it. But he was confident that we would do the right thing.
Our presence here today is remarkable and improbable. With all the punditry, all of the lobbying, all of the game-playing that passes for governing in Washington, it’s been easy at times to doubt our ability to do such a big thing, such a complicated thing; to wonder if there are limits to what we, as a people, can still achieve. It’s easy to succumb to the sense of cynicism about what’s possible in this country.
But today, we are affirming that essential truth -– a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself –- that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. (Applause.) We are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. We don't fall prey to fear. We are not a nation that does what’s easy. That’s not who we are. That’s not how we got here.
We are a nation that faces its challenges and accepts its responsibilities. We are a nation that does what is hard. What is necessary. What is right. Here, in this country, we shape our own destiny. That is what we do. That is who we are. That is what makes us the United States of America.
And we have now just enshrined, as soon as I sign this bill, the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care. (Applause.) And it is an extraordinary achievement that has happened because of all of you and all the advocates all across the country.
So, thank you. Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you.
All right, I would now like to call up to stage some of the members of Congress who helped make this day possible, and some of the Americans who will benefit from these reforms. And we’re going to sign this bill.

President Obama Signs Health Reform Bill

President Barack Obama reaches for a pen as he signs the health insurance reform bill in the East Room of the White House, March 23, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

UPDATE: The President spoke soon afterwards at the Department of Interior, where he reiterated many of the same points, but also took a more light-hearted tone towards critics of reform:

I said this once or twice, but it bears repeating: If you like your current insurance, you will keep your current insurance. No government takeover; nobody is changing what you’ve got if you’re happy with it. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. In fact, more people will keep their doctors because your coverage will be more secure and more stable than it was before I signed this legislation.
And now that this legislation is passed, you don’t have to take my word for it. You’ll be able to see it in your own lives. I heard one of the Republican leaders say this was going to be Armageddon. Well, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. We’ll look around –- (laughter) -- and we’ll see. (Applause.) You don’t have to take my word for it. (Applause.)

Health Care Bill Signing Ceremony

March 23,2010

President Obama spoke about the passage of the health care bill before signing it into law. Members of the audience included health care advocates, members of Congress, medical professionals, family members of Senator Ted Kennedy, and Americans who had written to the president about their challenges with health insurance.

PolitiFact.Com

The story:

Top 10 facts to know about health care reform

By Angie Drobnic Holan
Published on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 7:09 p.m. Bookmark this story:

PolitiFact has checked hundreds of claims about health care reform and read the plans under consideration by Congress. As the Democrats move toward a final vote, we've selected 10 facts about the actual health care legislation that every voter should know. Agree with the measure or not, here's what it intends to do and where the big unknowns are. We've linked to our previous reporting on each issue throughout the story; click through for even more sources.
1. The plan is not a government takeover of health care like in Canada or Britain. The government will not take over hospitals or other privately run health care businesses. Doctors will not become government employees, like in Britain. And the U.S. government intends to help people buy insurance from private insurance companies, not pay all the bills like the single-payer system in Canada. The key parts of the current U.S. system -- employer-provided insurance, Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the poor -- would stay in place. The government would create health insurance exchanges for people who have to buy insurance on their own, so they could more easily compare plans and prices.
2. Insurance companies will be regulated more heavily. They will be told the minimum services they must cover, including preventive care. They will have to pay out a certain percentage of premiums for patient care. By 2014, when the exchanges open, insurers won't be able to deny customers for pre-existing conditions.
3. Everyone will have to have health insurance or pay a fine, a requirement known as the individual mandate. The government intends to cap premiums for people who make below a certain income. For people who buy insurance on the exchanges, a family of four making $88,000 would have a cap of 9.5 percent of their income. Lower incomes would have lower caps. The fine for not having insurance would be a minimum of $695 per person per year, with exemptions for financial hardship and other special cases.
4. Employers will not be required to buy insurance for their employees, but large employers may be subject to fines if they don't provide insurance. But Congress wanted to encourage employers, especially large employers, to offer insurance. So they created a fine for employers with more than 50 workers: If those employees buy insurance on the exchanges and qualify for a low-income credit from the government, then the employer would have to pay a fine. Fines are calculated based on number of employees; for large firms, the fines could be significant.
5. The vast majority of people will not see significant declines in premiums. When President Obama talks about premiums going down, he usually means they won't go up as much as they would otherwise. For the 4-out-of-5 who get their insurance through their employer, the savings would land in the 0 to 3 percent range by 2016, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO. People who buy insurance on their own, but who don't qualify for government subsidies, could actually see their premiums rise by as much as 10 to 13 percent, but that's largely because they'll be getting beefed-up policies that would pay for more basic services, especially preventive care. Low-income people who qualify for new credits to buy insurance would see the biggest drops.
6. The plan might or might not bend the curve on health spending. Critics say there aren't enough provisions to reduce waste or fraud, but Democrats say they're not being given enough credit for new cost-saving pilot programs that could be rapidly expanded. The most recent estimate of the plan, released Thursday by the CBO, said that it would spend $940 billion over 10 years. But new taxes, penalties and cost savings would offset that spending, according to the CBO, so that overall the plan pay for itself, dropping the deficit by slightly $138 billion over 10 years. Obama has said the plan will save more than $1 trillion in the second 10 years, but that estimate, according to the CBO, is highly speculative.
7. The government-run Medicare program will keep paying medical bills for seniors, but it will begin implementing cost controls on health care providers, mostly through penalties and incentives. The legislation would reduce payments for hospital-acquired infections or preventable hospital admissions. For Medicare Advantage, the federal government intends to reduce extra payments, taking away subsidies to private insurance companies. Insurers will likely cut benefits in order to not lose profits. The bill does not address the "doctor's fix," an expected proposal that Congress usually passes to prevent doctor's Medicare payments from severe cuts.
8. Medicaid, a joint federal-state program for the poor, will cover all of the poor, instead of just a few groups the way it currently does. Right now, to qualify for Medicaid, a person has to be poor and also disabled, elderly, pregnant or a child. Under the new plan, all poor adults would qualify.
9. The government won't pay for elective abortions. But under the Senate plan, people will be able to buy insurance that covers abortion on the new health insurance exchanges, as long as the insurance company pays for the services with patient premiums, not taxpayer subsidies. Medicaid has an exemption for cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.
10. No one is proposing new benefits for illegal immigrants. Some House members had hoped that illegal immigrants would be able to buy insurance with their own money through the new exchanges, but that now appears unlikely.

Health care reform, Just the Facts: Immediate changes, others that will happen over time

Posted by devonawalker at 10:21 am March 22, 2010

It’s all done now, except for the Tuesday morning quarterbacking and the spin. But here is a pretty comprehenisve list of what you can expect immediately after the passage of health care reform as well as some other notable changes that will occur over time.

Changes happening immediately:

Adult children may remain as dependents on their parents’ policy until their 27th birthday
Children under age 19 may not be excluded for pre-existing conditions
No more lifetime or annual caps on coverage
Free preventative care for all
Adults with pre-existing conditions may buy into a national high-risk pool until the exchanges come online. These pools won’t be cheap, but they are still a lot better than being excluded. And there is expected to be some advantage due to the wider pool of the uninsured.
Small businesses will be entitled to a tax credit for 2009 and 2010, which could be as much as 50 percent of what they pay for their employees’ health insurance.
The “doughnut hole” closes for Medicare patients, making prescription medications more affordable for seniors. The government would offer a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries to help pay their prescription drug costs when they hit the “doughnut hole.” Next year, Medicare beneficiaries would see a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs to further close that gap.
All insurers will be required to post balance sheets on the Internet and fully disclose administrative costs, executive compensation packages, and benefit payments.
Authorizes early funding of community health centers in all 50 states (Bernie Sanders’ amendment). Community health centers provide primary, dental and vision services to people in the community, based on a sliding scale for payment according to ability to pay.
No more rescission's. Effective immediately, you can’t lose your insurance because you get sick.
Effective immediately would be a 10 percent tax on tanning salon services, which opponents say would lead to higher costs for indoor bronzing.

The following changes will occur over time. I have included the date of all implemented changes.

By 2014, all Americans must have health care coverage or pay a fine. Subsidies would be offered to help those making less than $44,000 or $88,000 for a family of four, afford insurance. Fines would be $95 in 2014, gradually rising to $695 by 2016, or up to 2.5 percent of income.
The most notable tax increase will occur in 2013, on individuals making more than $200,000, or $250,000 for couples. Taxes would be 0.9 percent on earned income above those amounts, and 2.9 percent on investment income (dividends, rents, royalties, etc.)
By 2014, no adults can be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions.
Companies with more than 50 workers would be required, by Jan. 1, 2014, to provide health care for their employees or face a penalty of $2,000 per worker (exempting the first 30 workers.) Up to $40 billion in tax credits would be offered to help companies buy insurance for their workers.
For individuals: Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, those making less than $44,000 annually, or $88,000 for a family of four, would be offered subsidies to buy health care. The subsidies would be on a sliding scale up to 9.5 percent of income.
For small businesses: Beginning this year, companies would be offered tax credits of up to 35 percent of health premiums to buy insurance for their workers. Tax credits would rise up to 50 percent by 2014. Those businesses with fewer than 10 workers would receive a full credit to cover costs.
New taxes would be imposed, on Jan. 1, 2018, on high-value health insurance plans held by individuals — the so-called “Cadillac plans” often offered to union workers or executives. The tax would be 40 percent on the value of individual plans above $10,200 and family plans above $27,500 (slightly higher, at $11,850 and $30,950, for retirees or workers in high-risk professions.) Excludes dental and vision plans.
Pharmaceutical companies would face a $4.8 billion fee beginning in 2011; medical device manufacturers would be hit with a 2.9 percent fee in 2013; and insurance companies would begin to see a nearly $70 billion fee in 2014.
Government payments to the Medicare Advantage program would be frozen in 2011 and decline in subsequent years.
By Jan. 1, 2014, most states would establish new health care exchanges, where those without job-based insurance could purchase policies, much the way members of Congress now buy insurance from an array of suppliers.

TRMS And Health Care Facts

Health Care Reform, now we know certain facts about when some of the bill takes effect. I believe that when the PEOPLE take a look and really understand what and when it takes effect, they will be forever thankful to the Dems. I believe That when the Republicans try to repeal this bill in Nov. That the People will rise up against them. Because everything that the Republicans said about the bill was a lie. I do not understand why they are so hell bent on taking away privileges that we deserve as Americans, and as far as having to buy health care, we have to buy car insurance to be able to drive, and we have to have drivers licenses' and if you have a house you have to have home owners insurance. What is the difference with health insurance for protection.... Wake Up PEOPLE.......

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Monday, March 22, 2010

Here are some quotes from twitter.

Yes we can. Barack Obama 22.49

House tally on the Senate bill was 219-212. The 219 were all Dems. The nays included 34 Dems. and all 178 Repubs. WestWingReport 22.52

New York Times headline: "House Approves Landmark Bill to Extend Health Care to Millions." WestWingReport 22.54

Wall Street Journal headline: "Historic Health Bill Passes" WestWingReport 22.56

NY Times: "House Approves Landmark Bill to Extend Health Care to Millions." Drudge: "A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFIRMARY" WestWingReport 23.21

This now goes to the Senate, where Maj. Leader Reid says he has the votes. WestWingReport 23.22

Reconciliation got 220 votes, Pelosi says. President to appear in East Room shortly. WestWingReport 23.37

President in Oval for congratulations calls...first up Speaker Pelosi...tells her "You've done what no other Speaker has done" Pressec 23.34

Obama: "At a time when pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics" WhiteHouse 23.48

Obama: "This moment is possible because of you" WhiteHouse 23.50

President: "Tonight's victory is not a victory for any party...it's a victory for the American people" WestWing 23,52

President: This won't fix all that is wrong with healthcare, but it moves it in right direction..."this is what change looks like." WestWing 23.54

Tonight’s vote is not a victory for any one party – it is a victory for the American people. Tonight, we answered the call of history. BarackObama 23.55

Obama: "Another stone... laid in the foundation of the American dream... We did not avoid our responsibility, we embraced it." WhiteHouse 23.56

It's 1:05 AM and finally leaving the White House...spent some time celebrating with a proud POTUS - not abt him he told us, but for America PressSec Mar22 ,06

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama talks to a Member of Congress on the phone in the Oval Office, March 21, 2010. Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs Phil Schiliro works in the background. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Good evening, everybody. Tonight, after nearly 100 years of talk and frustration, after decades of trying, and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America’s workers and America's families and America's small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here, in this country, neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.
Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics. We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests. We didn't give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges. We proved that this government -- a government of the people and by the people -- still works for the people.
I want to thank every member of Congress who stood up tonight with courage and conviction to make health care reform a reality. And I know this wasn’t an easy vote for a lot of people. But it was the right vote. I want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn for their commitment to getting the job done. I want to thank my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden, and my wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, for their fantastic work on this issue. I want to thank the many staffers in Congress, and my own incredible staff in the White House, who have worked tirelessly over the past year with Americans of all walks of life to forge a reform package finally worthy of the people we were sent here to serve.

Today’s vote answers the dreams of so many who have fought for this reform. To every unsung American who took the time to sit down and write a letter or type out an e-mail hoping your voice would be heard -- it has been heard tonight. To the untold numbers who knocked on doors and made phone calls, who organized and mobilized out of a firm conviction that change in this country comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up -- let me reaffirm that conviction: This moment is possible because of you.
Most importantly, today’s vote answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for something to be done about a health care system that works for insurance companies, but not for ordinary people. For most Americans, this debate has never been about abstractions, the fight between right and left, Republican and Democrat -- it’s always been about something far more personal. It’s about every American who knows the shock of opening an envelope to see that their premiums just shot up again when times are already tough enough. It’s about every parent who knows the desperation of trying to cover a child with a chronic illness only to be told “no” again and again and again. It’s about every small business owner forced to choose between insuring employees and staying open for business. They are why we committed ourselves to this cause.
Tonight’s vote is not a victory for any one party -- it's a victory for them. It's a victory for the American people. And it's a victory for common sense.
Now, it probably goes without saying that tonight’s vote will give rise to a frenzy of instant analysis. There will be tallies of Washington winners and losers, predictions about what it means for Democrats and Republicans, for my poll numbers, for my administration. But long after the debate fades away and the prognostication fades away and the dust settles, what will remain standing is not the government-run system some feared, or the status quo that serves the interests of the insurance industry, but a health care system that incorporates ideas from both parties -- a system that works better for the American people.
If you have health insurance, this reform just gave you more control by reining in the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known -- so that you are actually getting what you pay for.
If you don’t have insurance, this reform gives you a chance to be a part of a big purchasing pool that will give you choice and competition and cheaper prices for insurance. And it includes the largest health care tax cut for working families and small businesses in history -- so that if you lose your job and you change jobs, start that new business, you’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable care and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.
This reform is the right thing to do for our seniors. It makes Medicare stronger and more solvent, extending its life by almost a decade. And it’s the right thing to do for our future. It will reduce our deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade, and more than $1 trillion in the decade after that.
So this isn’t radical reform. But it is major reform. This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system. But it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like.
Now as momentous as this day is, it's not the end of this journey. On Tuesday, the Senate will take up revisions to this legislation that the House has embraced, and these are revisions that have strengthened this law and removed provisions that had no place in it. Some have predicted another siege of parliamentary maneuvering in order to delay adoption of these improvements. I hope that’s not the case. It’s time to bring this debate to a close and begin the hard work of implementing this reform properly on behalf of the American people. This year, and in years to come, we have a solemn responsibility to do it right.
Nor does this day represent the end of the work that faces our country. The work of revitalizing our economy goes on. The work of promoting private sector job creation goes on. The work of putting American families’ dreams back within reach goes on. And we march on, with renewed confidence, energized by this victory on their behalf.
In the end, what this day represents is another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American Dream. Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge -- we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility -- we embraced it. We did not fear our future -- we shaped it.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

Presidents Health Care Bill Passes

Well here it is all 10 hours. It was awesome, I am so proud of the Democrats for passing the most important piece of legislation, It was full of remarks, rudness, name calling, interruptions and a southern accent man calling Stupack "Baby Killer", but it passed. Now the Senate must pass the fixes by reconciliation 50 plus 1.

Politics - what I see and what I do not understand

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