Monday, March 22, 2010

Reform can start anytime now

The nation is one signature away from a health care reform plan.

That signature would belong to Barack Obama.

The legislation passed the U.S. House last night, 219-212. Not one Republican representative voted in favor of the plan.

Both of Delaware County’s reps, Joe Sestak and Bob Brady, also both Democrats, voted in favor. Two Democratic Pennsylvania congressmen voted against the president and the plan, along with one in New Jersey.

The president could sign the measure as early as today.

This debate is not over. Even before the roar from the first vote had seemingly settled, a second vote was being taken to make changes in the plan. It passed and now goes to the Senate.

The plan voted on last night had already been approved by the Senate.

After following this heated debate over the past year, I wonder not about the pros or cons of the bill, whether it will provide life-saving care for the uninsured or simply bankrupt the country.

Instead I wonder how anything ever gets done in Washington. The whole process is almost beyond the imagination of most people who go out and work for a living every day.

This place needs hope and change all right. And I don’t think health care should be the end of it.

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