Healthcare

Warriors:

Mitt Romney — “President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends.” — in National Review

Sarah Palin — Healthcare bill is “a clarion call to action,” she wrote in her Facebook. “In the weeks to come, we can expect [Congress] to try to change the subject, but we won't forget." Read more...

We all heard about the sky falling with passage of healthcare reform, and how today we have woken up in a country that is no longer free. Not true. But neither is the fact that the Democrats' bill is paid for. It isn't and it isn't likely to be; just ask those people who will be serving in future Congresses when the cuts have to come and taxes have to be raised.

That said, there are some surprising winners and losers in this debate who must be recognized for distinguishing themselves for better or worse. They are:

Last October, Keith Olbermann made a one-hour special comment on the healthcare debate that was the most compelling, intelligent and human discussion of healthcare that I have heard, read or seen anywhere. It was replayed last Thursday, and at some point I will post a link or transcript.

Olbermann will be making another comment on healthcare tonight, and I encourage everyone to watch it. Whatever one's view on the issue, Olbermann’s is one of the most passionate, committed and informed voices on this subject.

The passage of the healthcare bill in the House of Representatives is a gigantic victory for the Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She has cemented her role as one of the great historical Speakers and increased her influence even more, going forward, in Washington.

Congratulations to President Barack Obama for a hard-earned victory. But let’s also recognize what many in the media have so far missed, the enormous and nearly unprecedented role of Pelosi in moving this bill to passage.

For a year, one quarter of his administration, President Barack Obama has been judged harshly for the ways he's coped with problems he inherited — the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis, the management of the healthcare reform proposals, secrecy in government and slow selection of his appointments. I have joined in some of that criticism, while admiring the man and his good intentions.

Last night’s historic health reform vote in the House of Representatives has thousands of analysts this morning monitoring for potential political fallout. Who stays? Who goes? If you walked the halls of the House office buildings this morning, you’d barely notice anything other than exhausted staffers — as if they’d fought a mental battle of Armageddon and are just now sorting through the bodies. Republicans last night were upset, but I couldn’t help detecting a glint of glee in their mannerisms over the “spoils” they will allegedly reap come November. To that I say, “Not so fast.”

Now that a healthcare reform bill has passed — a bill that was a foregone conclusion at the end of December and declared dead a month later after Massachusetts — it may be instructive to look at some history.

One lesson: how things change, how much they stay the same.

Let me take you back to those golden days of yesteryear.

What a terrible choice House members will have to make this weekend. No, not whether to vote up or down on healthcare reform, but whether to watch CBS and that NCAA basketball tournament or turn on the news channels for that other March Madness.

It's a dilemma for all of us. Imagine how President Barack Obama must feel. Already he has had to cancel his Asia vacation because of healthcare, although come to think of it, maybe that was just a handy excuse for him to stay home to watch some hoops.

My bet is that the healthcare bill passes by two votes.

However, it would be worth the entertainment and revelation value, if the healthcare bill is defeated, to watch healthcare stocks crash to the bottom of the sea.

They have soared to the sky because of the bill, which, whatever its merits or demerits, is a "get rich quick" scheme for healthcare companies.

The president is telling the American people, “Trust me. Expanding the size and scope of the federal government by a couple of trillion dollars over the next 10 years is good for the federal deficit.” 

The president is telling the Democrats in the House, “Trust me. I will get the Senate to pass your request list through reconciliation. I will even send old Joe Biden to the upper chamber to overrule the parliamentarian if I have to, so we can get that thing done.”