Obama's healthcare win: 'This is change'

Obamnation proved he is no Christian by having this happen on a Sunday. This will destroy many small businesses where owners forgo their own pay checks so employees are paid. With the economy the way it is there is little support keeping them afloat. Companies will not be able to pay the fines the government will appose. thus destroying small business. Guess the Dems don't care about them. The middle class will cease, and become the new poor depending on Government handouts. Thank you for destroying our business and our country Obama. No government rule sounds dam good about now.

President Obama and Vice-President Biden did their job, as did Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid. They led this country against an evil empire, the Health Insurer Corporations, that would rather allow people to die than to ratchet down their greed. Now, thanks to these sinister Corporations and their hirelings, all of the hate, lies, mistrust and hypocrisy that has been spewed across our good country, we must try to pick up the pieces, not continue the assault on our cherished values. I don't see it happening, for these jaundiced players of the Republican-Libertarian-T.Baggers' mentality, are blinded by their own weaknesses, their ignorance, their gullibility, their greed and, of course, their allegiance to a ill-concieved notion of patriotism. I sincerely hope they will see their way back to the American way, but it seems as though, I post that thought after each of their defeats. Maybe this time will be different. I hope and pray, that is the case, this time.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

I doubt that the new Health Care bill will reduce the deficit as President Obama claims.

The deficit will be higher than ever when the election occurs.

The politicians in Washington still have to vote on the "Doctor's fix", which will add $200 billion dollars to the deficit.

Then they have to explain how they are going to keep the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare solvent, which is going to require higher taxes.

Then we must face the reality that the States are required to pay for the increased mandates to Medicaid.

It is time for the politicians in Washington to be honest with the American people!

One hundred years ago or so public education got started in the US. A century down the line it has more than failed the children it promised to help. The government schools have failed.

The same awaits us with ObamaCare. May Obama's name forever be linked with the misery and horror we will face with this new government system. In the future people will go to underground doctors and hospitals rather than the death boxes called government hospitals.

Oh really, if it's so great - why didn't every Democrat vote for it? Why did Pelosi and Obama have to make deals to get it done? Major legislation without one Republican? Disgusting!

Ok - can someone tell me what this means? Without bashing a political party please?

I just keep hearing, "I want the government to stay out of my healthcare." Um - government is already in healthcare. We already have socialized healthcare for the elderly and poor. I understand the questions on how are we going to pay for it, but what does this all mean for the average American? I've heard many large companies now say that their insurance premiums are now going to skyrocket. How is that possible?

The health care bill is really quite a clever way to solve the illegal alien issue. Required insurance begets national id card which allows electronic way to issue food stamps, etc. The side benefit will be a way to verify legality of presence in USA and ability to easily deny illegal aliens services, etc and deport them. Who would have thought the democrats would be this devious.

"This is what change looks like,''
--------------------------------
Also looks like higher taxes
for everyone (or at least higher healthcare rates).
Also looks like fewer jobs
in the private sector will continue.
Also looks like the road to bankrupcy is now paved.

If the change you want is bankrupcy, then - congrats.

Obama's lies and thugs convinced Democrats to take a fall, but the American public won't tolerate this adminstration's Chavez-like tactics in stealing control of 17 percent of the private economy plus the entire student loan industry to fund Obama's fantasy of a welfare state that will vote Democrat to keep its entitlements. mployment in a generation. This is yet another anchor around the necks of the American people, already faced with the highest levels of unemployment in a generation. Caterpillar said yesterday that ObamaCare will cost them $100 million in the first year alone and they are gearing for layoffs. This healthcare "reform" bill is a travesty -- and Americans know it. November can't come soon enough to continue dimantling Obama's socialist machine until he is permanently shown the door in 2012.

This is what change looks like? Yeah? Well, it sucks. Obama insists that it's all about him, not what is best for the Nation. Impeach, fire, replace, or demote.

Thank you Obama and socialist Democrats for revitalizing the Republican party and reigniting Americans' desire for a free society that will ultimately destroy the big government statists who seek to control every aspect of our lives. New Jersey. Virginia. Massachusetts. The backlash against Obama continues in November.

Great. I can't WAIT for my taxes to skyrocket...and the quality and availability of care to go down. Yup, this is the CHANGE I was hoping for! Are you glad you rammed that through Obama? You are as focused on that as Bush was with going to war with Iraq, aren't you? Doesn't matter at what cost, who will pay for it, who will suffer for it, you want your legacy to be 'Change' regardless if that change is good or bad.

Gee, perhaps now you can focus on job creation? Maybe you can tighten our borders and bring back the jobs that were shipped overseas so that the average American worker can afford to pay the inflated taxes they will be paying so that not only can people who are TRULY in need get health care, but the middle class can continue to shell out for those who were raised to believe they are the victim and its the government's responsibility to pay for them. I love that I busted my butt to go to school and earn a degree, and work hard in my career, just so I can turn around and fork my money over to someone who sits at home with her 10 kids from different fathers, or some bum who can't put the pipe down. Awesome. Thanks Obama!

What will it take for people to wake up?? This IDIOT is ruining this Country

"We rose above the weight of our politics?" Really? This whole saga was nothing *but* politics. The bill passed not on the soundness of the legislation, but because of arm-twisting and closed-door promises of pork & kickbacks. The Dems will really see what change looks like after November when they are packing up their offices and heading back to the private sector.

IN NOVEMBER you will see plenty of change.
I have never been so scared of my govnernment. This is a shocking the rahm immanual and pelosi bribes and threats to Dems to get this pushed through!

Are there any Right Wing Fringe Swampsters in denial who want to view the video of TeaBaggers throwing money at and getting in the face of a sufferer of Parkinson's disease?

This is a terrible, tragic loss for the future of freedom and America.

This will be the entitlement that breaks the American public's piggy bank. With record setting deficits and debt and then added unfunded mandates from the two existing entitlements of Medicare and Social Security of $107 Trillion, this will either increase our dependence on China for debt or the US Minth will be running the presses 365/24/7 and we will inflate our way out of the debt or BO will tax our economy into a permanent recession - like the 70's.

The Socialist-Democrats are today's winners, but Freedom and the American way of life is the loser.

Freeloading Flatliners, enjoy your day in the sun.

If this bill is so good, where is the Tribune online reader poll?

So it took a year to get legislation passed that the majority of American do not want. Meanwhile Irtan gets closer to starting WWIII, unemployment is still above 10%,banks are still spending our money on lavish bonuses and perks,illegals are still streaming into this country,the deficit is larger than ever and the justice department wants to treat terrorists as criminals. All in all I would say Obam has done on hell of a fine job of screwing up this country, but he has his legacy and that was what was really important about health care wasn't it?

RIP AMERICA

A sad day in America but one that is energizing the once silent majority of Americans to take this nation back from the socialists, Marxists, communists and other anti-American hacks in the Obama White House. Remember in November.

It was amusing to see Boner make a fool out of himself. His staged rant made little sense and was full of lies. But that is what Boner does best...lie and obstruct. He and the repubican party have nothing to offer (except lets start over). It is the republican party that has bankrupt the U.S. and it is the republican party who are out to destroy the working and middle classes. The republican party does not want Americans to have any sort of health care/ insurance. Compared to France, England, Germany, Denmark and Canada, the U.S. healthcare system is absolutely pathetic. Boner should lock himself in his tanning bed and Limpbaugh can now move to Costa Rico and enjoy their socialized healthcare system.

Vote out all Republicans and Blue Dog Dems in November!

This is not the change we were looking for.

THIS IS NOT THE END OF "CHANGE", BUCKLE UP DEMS!!!
Obamacare will haunt Democrats for years to come
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Historically, every social entitlement bill from Social Security to Medicare/Medicaid had bi-partisan support.
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However, when President Obama signs his signature health care bill into law, it will be the first time in history any social entitlement bill has ever passed with the support of only one party - and with bi-partisan opposition.
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Because history proves that all major social entitlement programs become fraught with billions of dollars of fraud and waste and exceed their initial budget estimates by billions of dollars, there is no reason to believe that this new "Democratic" health care entitlement program will be an exception.
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For Democrats, who hold every branch of government as they pass this bill - without even one Republican vote - the inevitable economic catastrophe of health care will lie solely at their feet. And, because this new health care entitlement belongs exclusively to Democrats, it will also prove to be a winning election issue for Republicans for the foreseeable future.
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While the new health care entitlement will forever seal the social-liberal support of the Democrat party as well as the conservative base of the Republican party, it will also prove to be the tipping point for the majority of independent voters who tend to be more fiscally conservative. And that's not good news for Democrats.
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Conservative Republicans can rest in the hope of one thing today - history and time are on their side
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http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/03/obamacare_will_haunt_democrats.html

lMy Polish wife (from Illinois like me) will be happy to learn that the only Illinois U.S. House Democrat with a pair big enough to vote "no" was another Pole. The worst part about this whole process is that there is no middle ground anymore in America. The same kind of left-wing ilk (now grown up and running the party) that made Chicago embarrass itself before the world at the Democratic Convention in 1968, thumbs it's nose again. I'll bet Madam Pelosi was giddy last night. Probably, off in some descreet Capitol cloak room, had a joint - maybe even dropped a lid.

BO sucks.

This POS bill stinks!

Anyone who voted for it, is being voted out in November, as the majority of "we the people" didn't want this, but no one (except the republican representatives) would listen to the majority.

Republican Talking Points:

Support the death penalty - but

Oppose abortion - and

Oppose Health Care for all Americans, so only those who can afford it get the treatment they need.

PLEASE could someone reconcile the logic of those three diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum for me?

Every American for freedom needs to stand strong and fight the Obama welfare state. Donate ten bucks to every anti-Democrat candidate across the country and vote in November. Wake up, Americans, the nanny state is entering your house to steal your bread.

The title should be this is what fooling the public and congress looks like. Not one republican voted for the bill. Only a bunch of drunken liberals voted. I'm saying drunken liberals because they are following the example of their leader, the recently deceased, manslaughtering drunk driving Massachusetts senator. They convinced enough of themselves that they would reduce the deficit with this bill by 138 billion over 10 years. You have to be drunk or insane to believe that. They convinced enough of themselves that the bill is just to get people with previously existing conditions insured, and to get rid of lifetime limits on medical benefits, etc.You have to be drunk or insane to think these benevolent ideas are the real reasons. All of the democrats bought into this, too good to be true, bill of goods. This plan will surely bankrupt the private insurers; and then we will get the single payer public health care system, complete with rationing and huge waiting periods for routine tests and surgery.

"What will it take for people to wake up?? This IDIOT is ruining this Country"

Posted by: mom1 | March 22, 2010 9:15 AM

Mommy, Bush left office in 2008. Perhaps you've been asleep?

Never forget the power grab the Democratic Party perpetrated on this great nation. Never forget.

The reports of the death of America and the Democrats have been greatly exaggerated. The great irony - all of the people who bash this bill and the President already have health insurance paid for by the companies they work for or through Medicare.

Here's the bottom line. We shouldn't demonize health insurance companies. They are businesses and their goal is to make as much money as they can for their shareholders, just like any business. Of course they would oppose this bill - it will potentially reduce their profits. Drop people when they get sick? Yes, if you can get away with it. Deny people with pre-existing conditions? Yes, they will be a drag on earnings. Raise rates as high as possible? Yes, of course.

It is the responsibility of Congress to enact laws that restrict the actions of corporations when their normal business practices go against the common good. There are countless examples of these laws in American history. That's why we have regulations. That's why this bill was passed. When a corporation is faced with a decision of whether to do what's "right" or increase their profits, we should expect that they will choose the latter every time. Laws like this bend the corporations behaviour towards what's "right".

I'm relatively young and healthy. I make too much money to qualify for subsidies and am too old to stay on my parents plan. The whole goal of the mandate is to get people like me in the pool to subsidize other high risk populations. With community rating and minimum package requirements, I would be forced to pay a wildly disproportionate share of the costs relative to what I use through artificially inflated premiums. I don't want to subsidize the elderly (I already do via Medicare), those who choose to have unhealthy lifestyles, anchor babies, the welfare population, or those who pop out 10 kids.

I'm going to opt out and pay the fine. It makes economic sense. I can always opt in later because insurance companies will have to cover preexisting conditions!! I'm sure there are many others out there just like me.

When enough people like me get screwed over, the adverse selection death spiral will begin leaving an older/sicker pool. If the fines are increased and I am forced in, I'll try to use as many healthcare resources as possible because I refuse to be a free low cost gift to the insurance companies against my will.

The State of Illinois is already near bankrupcy. Wait until we get the bill from the Feds for our share of the increased Medicare/Medicaid costs.

Seems like nobody cares about the impact on the states.

"This will be the entitlement that breaks the American public's piggy bank." Exactly- we are already on a path towards default on our debts, this new entitlement is only going to hasten this process. Americans better be ready for a sharp reduction in standard of living- at least to late 1970s/early 1980s levels, with a period of instability when inflation spirals out of control, and we need to establish an alternative to the dollar.

Also, the Federal Government has no right to mandate that someone buys health insurance. The Federal Government only has the powers invested in it by article 1 section 8 of the US Constitution. Nowhere is anything about health care listed in these enumerated powers. In fact, all the social engineering by FDR and LBJ that has yet to be reversed is unconstitutional. Our government was already acting outside it's constitutionally defined role.

Now, this is the last straw. I no longer recognize this Government as a legitimate one. As Thomas Locke said in the 18th century, they have broken their "social contract", by not governing according to the rules (constitution). Throughout my life, Government has taken so much from me and my family and given practically nothing in return! I will see nothing from Social Security, but every pay stub, I am reminded of the 6.2% that is taken out of my paycheck based on something that was voted on over 45 years before I was born! Now, this is the last straw.....

I cannot wait until all of the people who voted for this bill are mopping floors for a living in the post-collapse USA.

Thanks President Obama for getting this done!!!!
Here is how the Health care Bill will save Me Thousands!!!!
Now with passage of this bill I will be able to keep my children on my health care until they are 26, I pay $1,200.00 a month for my family now; I will not have to pay 500 dollars a month for each child AFTER THE AGE OF 18 having 4 children AT ONCE between the ages of 18 and 26.
Do the Math Without this healthcare bill, healthcare for my Family a
WOPPING $3,200.00 PER MONTH
This is CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, " Kyle..", I'll see you and raise you $100, for every Democrat, that is !!! Thank God, they, the Democrats, voted their conscience, other wise we wouldn't have Social Security, Civil Rights for all Americans, Medicare and Medicaid. Thank God, for the Democrats, who are there to stop this country from becoming the fascist state that the boys and girls of the Republican-Libertarians-T.Baggers are inciting our nation to become !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW. !!

These Republicans are probably the ancestors of those that voted so vehemently against Medicare, Civil Rights, the Women's right to vote, the Black's right to vote and every other moral piece of legislation that they disagree with.

SOMETHING had to be done with our healthcare system and since NO REPUBLICAN stepped up to take the lead it shows where their priorities are. They worry about the unborn (I worry too and am glad that ABORTION WILL NOT BE FEDERALLY FUNDED. But what about those who are already alive and are denied coverage every day?? Where is your concern for them??? Talk about hypocrites!!

For those of you who are confused . . . there ARE death panels and there HAVE been for years. They are called INSURANCE PROVIDERS. Every time an insurance provider denies your claim, even after they have pre-authorized it, they are deciding your fate. TH IS LEGISLATION MAKE THIS PRACTICE ILLEGAL.

Finally, no one wants government-sponsored medicine. But try, just try to take away Medicare from the tight grip of a senior citizen. Medicare is government-sponsored and no senior is EVER going to let you take that away. Try, just try to take it away from the mother of a child who's only insurance is Medicaid because UNTIL NOW no other insurance company would insure her child. MEDICAID IS GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED medicine. They may not be the best coverage available, but they can't turn you away the way the greedy insurance companies do every single day . . . at least until today!!

Thank you Democrats, except Rep. Lapinski, for having the courage to vote for your constituents' needs.

Rep. Lapinski, you should be ashamed of yourself!!!!! Next time, I expect to see you running as the true Republican you are.

All the young people that drank the Obama kool-aid will be singing a different song when they start getting taxed like crazy to pay for everyone. Obama/Pelosi are a scary tune, November can't come soon enough!

I don't understand. Obama won the election by a landslide, and, he made it clear that the helth reform bill was 1 of the biggezst things on his agenda. Now that it has passed, everyone is opposed to it, hmmmmm!

The Democrats showed their courage, even though some of them may not be re-elected due to the lack of vision by their districts. It will take time for you who oppose this legislation to see the immense value it affords our citizens. If you do not have affordable health care you have no life. Someone used the word 'idiot' about President Obama. I believe you have him confused with his predecessor who got us into two wars and did little for the middle class. He was all about the wealthy. He was the poster boy for the wealthy. Thakfully he is back clearing brush on the 'ranch' when not attending baseball/football games.

I wish all of the people, spouting negative comments, absurdly made assumptions, would lose their job and health insurance so they can experience what this fight is all about.

With one vote the Democrats have embraced the same idealogy (i.e. socialism) that our country fought 40+ years to eradicate. I am firmly convinced the ultimate goal of the Obama white house is to bankrupt this country. The Democrats machinations to force this bill into law is nothing short of criminal and I hope the Senate Republicans fight tooth and nail to defeat and/or repeal this legislation before the brunt of its destructive provisions are fully implementated.

Darn, are these Republican-Libertarians-T.Baggers putting on the Soap Opera of the year !! Way to go, boys and girls. Now you know, for the umpteenth time, God don't like ugly and ugly includes, lying and more lying. Maybe, just maybe, you will finally realize this and accept this, but I doubt it !! We will see this profuse outpouring of fear and smear, again, in your next legislative defeat, which should be, the skinning the Weasels on Wall Streets and the hanging of the Bandits in our Boardrooms; aka Financial Reform !! Or as you, Republican-Libertarian-T.Baggers will so eloquently put it: Those "commies", are trying to stop our great and greedy Capitalist Bankers from stealing more of our money !! Get real and get some sense !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

Yes, this is CHANGE! Get used to it! Healthcare costs MONEY...and if nothing were done about it at this juncture, it simply would get more expensive to delay this measure. This nation is turning more into the haves (those who have insurance coverage and money) and the have-nots. The dems have helped level the playing field, and the Republicans are angry, for they are waving their arms and spewing doomsday predictions of the future. They did the same thing for social security and medicare. And BTW, this voting tactic is the same one the Republicans used under Bush for his tax cuts. Funny...where were all the whiners then?

Another nail in America's coffin!

This will be fought all the way to the supreme court!

If only the repugnican'ts did their job and actually did something other than throw tempertantrums and complain. What role did they play in this? Nothing. Zip. Zero. I think this is only a step in the right direction.

For those "death panel" crazies - isn't the abortion issue the same thing in reverse? Here government is now interferring with doctors and patients making health decisions. Isn't that what you were opposed to in the beginning? I guess it only matters when a lump of indistinguished cells that only have a 45% chance of living matter. Only in this country of religious fanatics and fear mongers do cells that may not become a person almost half the time have more rights than people that are already 100% alive and contributing to society. God is shaking his head at his most fervent followers.

Next stop - public option like all other civilized countries. And guess what - those countries are not all "socialist", but I guess you'd actually have to know what "socialism" is. Guess they don't teach that in schools anymore - thanks "No Child Left Behind" for creating an army of Tea Bag idiots.

This is what betrayal looks like.

With so many Americans opposed to this bill, it is unconscionable for Obama to try to ram this down our throats . So much for change.

I suggest we take change into our own hands and vote out each and every member of the house, senate, and whitehouse that voted for this...maybe, just maybe the next group will actually listed to us, rather than try to fulfill their own personal agendas.

Repeal this bill.
Recall or vote out everyone who voted for and supported this bill.

If health care was a boat with tea on it sitting in a harbor....all that tea would be at the bottom of the harbor by now. We don;t have anything to throw into the Boston harbor this time...so recalling these bums is the best we can do.

Great speech. Horrible outcome for our nation. As an ER phsycician I can tell you that this news is devastating. The government will now dictate to me which tests to order on my emergency patients. as a result, if something is missed or misdiagnosed, doctors and hospitals will still get sued for millions, because Obama and his democrat lawmakers made no provision in their 1200 page health care reform bill for tort reform. As physicians, we order more tests now than I did when I graduated medical school 15 years ago, so as to protect ourselves from lawsuits.Despite this defensive medicine, we STILL get sued in this hazardous medical practice environment.
. Obama and his band of bribed democrats have set us on the road to bankruptcy, and the joke is on us, congress does not have to suffer Obamacare,they have had their cadillac medical plan all along.Hypocrits . We will vote them all out in November..

Blah blah blah blah blah...

You clowns have a LOT to say, but absolutely no knowledge about what you're whining over. I'd bet that none of you clowns has read even A SINGLE LINE of the legislation, but you go on and on like you should be taken seriously.

You people are the problem with this country -- clueless buffoons going to the polls and voting on serious issues in spite of the fact that you KNOW NOTHING. Get over yourselves, get a clue, and cast an informed vote rather than being exploited by charlatans that take advantage of your laziness and stupidity.

That's all I have to say since partisan hacks cannot be reasoned with and lack the capacity to understand explanations that don't fit into their perverted world view.

"Conservative" is not an ideology; it's an excuse.

How quickly can we recall Pelosi, Obama, and everyone that voted for this travesty?

"As a country we have decided that we trust the government to take enough money from our neighbor or our employer to pay for all the essentials in our lives. We in fact trust the government more than we believe in our own ability to be self sufficient. We may be suprised when our neighbor decides to move his business overseas given that the fruits of his labor are being confiscated, and subsequently figure out that the government can't produce the wealth required to guarantee our retirement and medical care. The government can only rob from one man to give to another and soon or a later the victim moves to a better neighborhood."

I hope Catepillar lays off 3,000 workers to cover the $100,000,000 this will, let these union workers feel the change. Maybe they'll give themselve high fives for the change. I hope all the other companies this affects does the same! Even better, mover their headquarters to red states, where they won't be taxed to the point they can't be competitive.

It was a sad, sad day for the USSA.

Don Fitzgerald for Congress!

The Republicans failed use all!
This was coming. The USA was the only developing nation without a comprehensive heath care. This could have been a better bill (law); however, the Republicans preferred to just say NO!
Many voters will remember this.

So I don't follow politics much, but I wish people would give things a little chance. Yeah it doesn't seem great on the forefront, but we'll have ot wait and see how it turns out. Just as Bush's No CHild Left Behind seemed great on paper, it has really screwed the education system (which is why public schools are failing acutally). Also, problems in government and the deficit and the war is not all of Obama's fault. Bush was the one who really messed up the economy of the country, and it just so happened that Obama was in office when it really hit us. Not taking sides, but just saying that people need to calm down and see because everything sounds good or bad on paper but it may be handled very differently in action.

David Frum, former speechwriter to President George W. Bush:

Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.

It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. Conservatives may cheer themselves that they’ll compensate for today’s expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections. [...]

No illusions please: This bill will not be repealed. Even if Republicans scored a 1994 style landslide in November, how many votes could we muster to re-open the “doughnut hole” and charge seniors more for prescription drugs? How many votes to re-allow insurers to rescind policies when they discover a pre-existing condition? How many votes to banish 25 year olds from their parents’ insurance coverage? And even if the votes were there – would President Obama sign such a repeal?

We followed the most radical voices in the party and the movement, and they led us to abject and irreversible defeat. [...]

So today’s defeat for free-market economics and Republican values is a huge win for the conservative entertainment industry. Their listeners and viewers will now be even more enraged, even more frustrated, even more disappointed in everybody except the responsibility-free talkers on television and radio. For them, it’s mission accomplished. For the cause they purport to represent, it’s Waterloo all right: ours.

When quantity goes up, quality goes down.

Yes, we recall Obama's campaign rhetoric " change you can believe in." There will be serious change coming in November - just about every incumbent needs to be turned out of office. Better we pick any person off the street to replace them as we could do no worse. These arrogant, un-American, U.S. Constitution-hating thugs need to go. The shenanigans we just witnessed in order to cram this legislation through is appalling. November is right around the corner - kick them all out. Oh, by the way, notice how they exempt their elite selves from this health care fiasco. If they had any credibility they would have put themselves on the same plan for a couple years and gotten back to us on how it was working out for them. The riffraff needs to be ejected from our political landscape.

Wait, how is providing health care to millions of sick Americans either the death of liberty or freedom? Why are so many people willing to support big industry (they screwed you, wake up) over big govermnet? People; wake up, you are being manipulate by fear (fear of losing more money, fear of change, fear of "other") which is distracting you from the fact that the USA just became a relevant country that works for the people rather than the businessman. I am very, very, very PROUD to be an American!

Also, WAR COSTS MONEY. Lots and lots and lots and lots of it. Yet, no one seemed to care when we thew ourselves into two wars at once. Ok, it was an emotional time and it was both parties who voted yes, I get it.... but what about now? While I am happy to see this move forward, what I want to see next is for Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq THIS YEAR and show America and the world that American can both take care of its own people (blah blah, I know, you hate illegal immigrants, blah blah) AND not be the policemen/warmongers of the world as well.

Don Fitzgerald needs a hobby or a job. Something that doesn't' keep him up all night calling people that don't agree with his socialist agenda, horrible names. You'll be rotting in hell, seated at the right hand of your saviour.

Answer for Tiffany, posted question at 8:53am on 3/22/10

From the huffingtonpost, here are 10 things that will happen as soon as the senate passes the reconciliation bill that the house passed yesterday and Obama signs into law:

As soon as health care passes, the American people will see immediate benefits. The legislation will:

Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;

Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;

Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;

Lower seniors' prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;

Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;

Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;

Require plans to cover an enrollee's dependent children until age 26;

Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;

Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;

Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.

By enacting these provisions right away, and others over time, we will be able to lower costs for everyone and give all Americans and small businesses more control over their health care choices.

Follow this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-b-larson/he-top-ten-immediate-bene_b_501748.html

Robert Reich also has a very good article that blows the lies from truth about what kind of legislation this really is. Hint: it isn't socialism.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/22/the_final_health_care_vote_and_what_it_really_mean/

Wow. I am a business that pays $10,000 for each employee to have health insurance. Under this plan, I can dump their health care and only pay a $2,000 per employee fine and the employees can be on their own to find health insurance. I see a great way to save on my bottom line. This IS the change I was waiting for.

Great news: If you hate this health care plan and all that it stands for, you can simply opt out and pay the fine! Please do! Of course only a two-faced hypocrite would spew hatred on a public forum towards this healthcare bill and then go and accept the benefits. Please, opt out. I am sure that you will be fine and will not get sick.

Barack the tax bringer.

Hopefully, in another post Mr. Fitzgerald will elaborate on how exactly this bill does not INCREASE the profits of insurance and drug companies. Maybe he is aware of something I am not. By all accounts with mandatory insurance we will add about 30 million new people. Were the anti-trust exemptions removed from the insurance industry?? Were seven and or ten year lucrative patents removed from big pharma to reduce cost?? Now that insurance companies must accept pre-existing conditions, can Mr. Fitzgerald tell us without a premium CAP how that will help someone with a pre-existing condition afford insurance?? Or maybe he can enlighten us on the insurance for young people staying on their parent's policy. Since this only applies if your child is a full-time student in a higher education program what about the kids not going to college?? Maybe Mr. Fitzgerald could explain how the projected $500 billion in new taxes will be collected. Will this be a payroll tax to cover lifetime and catastrophic illness, and new Medicaid enrollees, or a state tax increase, a federal tax increase, or all of the mentioned?? If Mr. Fitzgerald can answer any of my questions, hopefully, his pearls of wisdom can focus more on substance and less on rants.

I am relieved that this legislation finally passed, and saddened by the negativity of many of the comments posted here. Legislation that makes progress towards affordable and quality healthcare for most Americans is a huge step forward for America. It is a shame that so many average Americans have been tricked into believing that this step will hurt them. I am proud of Obama and proud of our country for passing this legislation. I hope it is the first of many steps to improve the level of justice and equality in our society.

Where were these crackpot losers when Bush was spending money like a drunken sailor, causing a near depression? Now all of a sudden, they get religion? Interesting timing.

Nothing will satisfy these racist hate mongers.

pro reform said, "These Republicans are probably the ancestors of those that voted so vehemently against Medicare, Civil Rights, the Women's right to vote, the Black's right to vote and every other moral piece of legislation that they disagree with. " Actually, the democrats are the bigger racists, with more of them voting AGAINST the civil rights act. Perhaps you should do your homework first. No go suck on your bottle and get back into bed little one.

Just so we don't change history, it was a Dem congress that fought against civil rights. Also even the Democrats agree that social security and medicare are broke. Point being, where do all you bright people who keep posting about these wonderful programs tell us how the're going to be funded. We never get a answer.

Anyone who thinks this bill will not INCREASE your health insurance or the national debt has insane in the membrane.

There are safety nets for people who can not get affordable insurance because of pre-existing conditions. Our current health insurance system has been in place for decades. Now some community activist aided by San Fransisco liberal Democrats have turned the system upside down and the true motives was to transfer wealth in the guise of health insurance.

No Dems in 2010!.

YES WE CAN!!! Free healthcare---it's about time. Now, I can get the same healthcare that all these rich people have been getting for years, since the government will pay for everything!!! Obama---a genius!

Of course, when we spend 750 billion dollars on a war in Iraq, no rethuglicans complain. But just spend that money on Americans, and you're an America-hating commie. And up is down and forward is backwards and black is white! LOL!

IN RESPONSE TO TIFFANY: I offer a different approach than Marina. I would direct you to T.R. Reid's book "The Healing of America." A short read but it explains all of the different insurance plans in developed countries. From there you will be able to understand what has worked and or failed elsewhere. It is worth mentioning that last year thirty-three thousand Canadians came to the U.S. for healthcare. Canadian Premier Danny Williams came to the U.S. for heart surgery in February and the Crown Prince Sultan from Saudi Arabia finished his yearlong treatment in the U.S. in December. There is nothing in this legislation or any other that cannot be amended, rewritten and or revoked if necessary. Currently, we have the best healthcare in the world, and the majority of Americans will not allow that to change. If we need to remove the current legislators and or president to get that message across, so be it.

Nov is going to be fun. Because now the lies by the libs on HC and its real cost will come off. What happened in MA & NJ is going to look like kids play. By this time next year dimocrats will found it hard to get a job catching dogs.

Wow. According to figures from the congressional budget office, US budget for military funding in 2009 was nearly equal to the amount the entire world's other nations spent on this combined. Would it not make sense to spend a bit less money on warfare and more on healing our citizens?

I realize that there are a lot of ramifications to this bill, and that it will cause new problems as it seeks to address old ones. However, I'm glad to see steps taken to get coverage for our populace. I know far too many people who cannot afford health care, or if they manage to, the cost of it is ridiculous and it doesn't cover past conditions. Many of us have had to choose jobs solely to get health insurance.

As it is signed, I, for one, pray that the bill and any amendments is more positive than negative. For those of you who are so incredibly opposed to 'socialized' health care, I have to ask: have you or anyone you loved ever suffered or died because you didn't have money to go to the hospital or see a doctor? If not, you're lucky. Many, many of us in the US have.

"Compassion," you've just parroted one of the great non-sequiturs in the abortion debate. There's no inconsistency in any abortion/death penalty combination of positions:

Oppose abortion/favor the death penalty is consistent: Protect the innocent, punish the guilty.

Favor abortion/oppose the death penalty is consistent; Punish the innocent, protect the guilty. (Consistent, but not particularly attractive.)

Oppose both abortion and the death penalty is consistent: Respect the sanctity of life.

Favor both abortion and the death penalty is consistent: Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out.

Any connection between this debate and health care exists only in your own mind.

Ok republicans, let me smoke my legal cigarettes whereever I please whether in your business or somebody else's.

Oh that's right I can't.
The government tells me it's not possible. You don't want government involved in anything but you vote for things not every american wants too. You can't please everyone, especially republicans.

As European living in the US I have to say it's time to stop the fear-mongering and to associate social and civic with Socialism. That's nothing more than demagogy by the tea-party morons and simple minded ppl. All the EU states have proper health care and doing economical better than the US, particularly in times of crisis. For example Germany went through a lot of pain with Health Care reform as well five years ago, now being the strongest economy in Europe. Apart of all ideology, it is necessary to make the US succeed economically on the long run! In the end... health care in the US is the most expensive on the planet but ranks only 37th!

Yippee! Finally someone is thinking about the American people. I am not sure why people are against this... Our unemployment rate is so high. Educated, hard-working people who have never been out of work before are experiencing job loss and insurance loss. Wake up. Things are getting better. Oh sure Republicans, you may have to part with some of your precious money - but the insurance companies will continue to make sure you would anyway. Victory!

Yeah, Bush and Congress spent 1 trillion on the war then liberals come in then attempt to justify spend 1.8 trillion in stimulus, 3.8 trillion dollar budget, now this health-care crap that will cost us a trillion a year..

Whats next?

Do the liberals have anymore ideas on how to flush money down the toilet on subsidized crap??

This is really going to help the pending inflation problem.

Liberals are either stupid or they just don't care what the end result is just as long as they look like saviors to their voting base.

70% of us know this is a horrible idea and its going to be a disaster but one thing is certain, when this program blows up in our faces 5,6 or 7 years down the road the left WILL imply it was the republicans fault, they will NEVER hold their own accountable for this spending and the impending doom that awaits us over the next 10 years.

This is only tons more money spent and jobs will be killed due to this bill. Now, I know one thing, less jobs and more spending equals epic disaster and national bankruptcy.

Is Obama trying to create such an economic crisis that in 2012 when hes up to get booted he can appoint him self "Czar" of the US by declaring Martial Law?

And come November you will see what change feels like!

"...Actually, the democrats are the bigger racists, with more of them voting AGAINST the civil rights act. Perhaps you should do your homework first. No go suck on your bottle and get back into bed little one."

Posted by: Ella | March 22, 2010 11:46 AM

The lack of self-awareness among conservatives is astounding. It is YOU that needs to do your homework or at least be intellectually honest. What? You didn't know that the two parties basically switched sides in the 60s? Yes, there were racists in the Democratic party, but they eventually defected to the Republicans. Look up the "southern strategy".

Once you've actually learned something, then you can get on here and argue with some class and integrity. Talk about the pot and the kettle.

"Wow. I am a business that pays $10,000 for each employee to have health insurance. Under this plan, I can dump their health care and only pay a $2,000 per employee fine and the employees can be on their own to find health insurance. I see a great way to save on my bottom line. This IS the change I was waiting for."

Posted by: jjrg7 | March 22, 2010 11:29 AM

Can't fix evil.

"Great speech. Horrible outcome for our nation. As an ER phsycician I can tell you that this news is devastating. The government will now dictate to me which tests to order on my emergency patients. as a result, if something is missed or misdiagnosed, doctors and hospitals will still get sued for millions, because Obama and his democrat lawmakers made no provision in their 1200 page health care reform bill for tort reform. As physicians, we order more tests now than I did when I graduated medical school 15 years ago, so as to protect ourselves from lawsuits.Despite this defensive medicine, we STILL get sued in this hazardous medical practice environment.
. Obama and his band of bribed democrats have set us on the road to bankruptcy, and the joke is on us, congress does not have to suffer Obamacare,they have had their cadillac medical plan all along.Hypocrits . We will vote them all out in November.."

Posted by: Doc | March 22, 2010 11:01 AM

When I get on message boards I like to pretend I'm a wealthy industrialist who secretly solves crimes at night.

The government is requiring a company to cover things it normally does not cover.
Imagine if you are a plumber...and the government requires you to fix "pre-existing" leaks during a house call for 1 leak..

This indicates to me, that insurance companies will go out of business.

Also, the plan provides coverage for 32 million, creates 1600 new federal agents...but NO new health care providers (cannot say Doctors anymore as that is elitist.)

March 22, 2010 - Toronto Star

"In the face of a $24.7 billion deficit and "unsustainable" growth in health-care funding, the province has signalled radical reforms are on the way for hospitals."

"As hospitals admit fewer patients and discharge patients faster, they are commonly sent home on intravenous antibiotics, oxygen, dialysis and with open wounds – things that used to keep them in hospital for weeks.

"The expectation is that visiting nurses and personal support workers will pick up the slack."

`If we have to cut back because we have to balance the budget, then Mrs. Jones who would normally get four hours will now get two hours.'

"For hospital watchdogs such as the Ontario Health Coalition, another concern is that the province has signalled its intention to make hospitals compete with each other for some procedures."

"If one hospital offers to do the work more cheaply than a competitor, it would get the work"

Perfect timing, a snap shot of what is to come. what a disaster.

Time to take a stand Americans. Do you want a high tax, big government welfare state? Or do you believe in individual freedom and power? Very few of the supposed benefits of ObamaCare even begin before 2014, but all of the taxes and business mandates start this year. The extra expense on businesses (Caterpillar estimated it would cost them $100 million a year) will keep companies from hiring or investing in expansion. That will kill any employment recovery in a weak economy, meaning that high unemployment will continue for the next several years.
Starting today, health care will cost more, be less available, and people will remain out of work. In that kind of environment, Democrats will have to answer for their government takeover, and the results won't be pretty - nor should they be. Of course, none of this matters to Obama. He's blinded by his ideology and fantasy of a America becoming a socialist state where he is his our ever-present, Chavez-like king. If nothing else, Obama ramming this horrendous bill down our throats has jolted Americans and ensured his socialist fantasy never becomes a reality no matter how many lies he tells or arms he breaks in the coming months.

To the misfortunate miscreant, that has to hide behind my name, " Fitzgerald " to post their nonsense: No wonder your side is losing, you don't have the courage or the honesty, to do otherwise. You have turned out to be skunks of the foulest odor. You have learned your hate-lessons well. Now, all you have to do is grow up and become a full-fledged Republican-Libertarian-T.Bagger !! You stink, Buddy or Missy, whoever, you are. You will go far in the ranks of the Republicans-Libertarian-T.Baggers, though !! Losers all !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

terry the r-con beancounter:
posted (snip)
Freeloading Flatliners, enjoy your day in the sun.

~~~~

oh, can't ya just feel the love..?

When you cons occupied both houses and the presidency, you couldn't even get a healthcare reform bill out of committee.
You cons, however,managed to ram through 2 wars which has cost all of us 2 trillion+

You cons also bailed out your reckless bankster pals to the tune of over 2 trillion+ and blamed poor minorities for conspiring to loot the treasury.
Color that totally lame.

You cons also rammed through yoour so-called
" bankruptcy and credit reform act" which made it a crime to place ones house in bankrupcy protection when the same poor soul was facing bankrupcy because of medical bills...and you wonder in total amazment why there are so many foreclosed houses?

oh, yeah, I can really feel the love....for yourselves, and the heck with everyone else.

You cons circumvented the constitutional separation of powers and the democratic process, when it suited you.
Now it's one great big whinefest.

I wonder where the politicians are getting their information from. Everyone I know was against this bill. So how could "the people" have wanted it? All of the polls I saw simply stated that the people did not want this bill. As a matter of fact they wanted nothing to do with this bill. Is that to say that the current system is perfect, or even good? No. But the Republicans were at least willing to address the tort issues. The frivelous lawsuits are what drive up the cost of insurance. The greed of the masses. The need to blame someone else for consequencies of my choices. It was my choice to smoke, but balme tobacco for my cancer. It was my choice to drink. But blame the bar owner for my drunk driving. It was my choice to rob a bank. But blame the economy for my not having a job or money.

Maybe it is time for a new way to vote. Let the people trully decide how their representative will vote. Put the decisions in our hands. Let us decide. Instead of having the Reps and Sens vote what they want instead of what the people want, maybe it is time to take them out of the equation. When a vote is taken, the people vote, just like in elections. Then we will know trully what the people want. The Reps and Sens will be there to introduce the bills taht we the people vote on, and they will even be able to vote. But OUR voice will be heard. And since we are taking away certain aspects of their job, they need to take a pay decrease, like so many of us have done during the recent months. The difference goes right to paying down the defecit.

If the government is not going to listen to the people, then maybe it is time for the people to stop paying the government. Maybe it is time for us to stop paying taxes on our income. Tax us only for what we buy. Then, if you have lots of money and buy lots of things (which is your right) then you will pay higher taxes. But for those who do not have as much money, and therefore do not buy as much, they will not pay as much.

Never forget the power grab the Democratic Party perpetrated on this great nation. Never forget.

Posted by: Beth | March 22, 2010 10:13 AM

In case you have been in a coma for the last 14 months, Obama won the election and so did a majority of democrats.

So sorry you cannot stand the result of democracy in action.
Feel free to leave with Rush.
Please take Glenn Beck with.

Thank you Mr. President and Speaker Pelosi.

For your info:
** Page 50/section 152: The bill will provide insurance
to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally.

** Page 58 and 59: The government will have
real -time access to an individual's bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts.

** Page 65/section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by
the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now - ACORN).

** Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this
section will not be treated as a tax. (How could anybody in their right mind come up with that?)

** Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same
regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors' fees.

** Page 272. section 1145: Cancer hospital will ration
care according to the patient's age.

** Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a
prohibition on hospital expansion; however, communities may petition for an exception.

** Page 425, line 4-12: The government mandates
advance-care planning consultations. Those on Social Security will be required to attend an "end-of-life planning" seminar every five years. (Death counseling.)

** Page 429, line 13-25: The government will specify
which doctors can write an end-of-life order

Wow. I am a business that pays $10,000 for each employee to have health insurance. Under this plan, I can dump their health care and only pay a $2,000 per employee fine and the employees can be on their own to find health insurance. I see a great way to save on my bottom line. This IS the change I was waiting for.

Posted by: jjrg7 | March 22, 2010 11:29 AM
;
Good luck retaining employees. You treat your workers like slaves they will find other companies who take care of their employees and you will be left w/ nothing. So long TeaBagger. You get no sympathy from me you scumbag.

Don't worry my fiscally responsible friends. The naive youngsters who voted for Change-Obama will soon be repubs once they realize their hard earned money only goes to support the next generation of Democratic leeches.

Give me more of what you have.

To Mr. Braekes who claims that government schools have failed: Have some children not benefited from a public education? Yes. Has it been an expensive proposition? Yes. But hundreds of millions of people have graduated from public schools, the majority of Americans, so how can you call it a failure? Government can't fix all problems, but should it not try to fix problems that cross all sectors, such as national security, education, the health of the majority of citizens, etc?

Congratulations! Yay, now we're just like Europe! One giant step in proving that America is every bit as good at being a follower as it used to be at being a leader. We should all be just so proud!

It's genuinely sickening to read how this plan will be funded. Yearly penalties for those who don’t carry insurance; increased Medicare payroll taxes; 3.8% tax on "unearned income" - which, by the way, is what a pension plan or 401k plan is a/k/a "investment" or "unearned" income; fees on employers; fees on pharmaceuticals companies; fees on insurers; fees on medical device makers; the Cadillac plan tax - which I believe is if your plan is too good, you get taxed more; hospitals currently reimbursed for unpaid care for low-income patients would have payments reduced - which sounds good and rosy until you read between the lines - all this means is that when amnesty is applied to all the illegal immigrants, hospitals will get a break for the increased number of patients; and finally "savings" in Medicare Advantage - a/k/a reduction in spending...

None of this equates to savings to you or me...

Other then knowing we are losing rights daily, and if I still believed we had freedom of speech which we don't. I would say a few things, but as it is, the only thing I can say is GOD HELP US, because no one else will.

The Economically Ignorant Still and Always Writing Wrong,

A conservative form of health reform, one that included open markets and tort reform, never would have made it past a democrat filabuster. IN the 4 1/2 years the GOP held the Senate, they had nothing close to a filabuster proof majority.

The war on terrorism was done on a bi-partisan vote. The Afghansistan from had a vote of 420-1 and 98-0. The Iraq war vote was 297-133, including 82 democrats and 77-23 including 29 democrats. The vote to go to war and spend the necessary money on winning the war was bi-partisan.

You still have answered what were the deficits like when FDR ran his wars? What % of GDP were they? So tell me, who wasn't paying for their wars?

Are you talking about the bank bailouts that BO was an integral part of and voted for? Dollar wise, how do those bank bailouts compared to the unfunded liability of the two great democratic social programs of Social Security and Medicare?

Never blamed the poor minorities for conspiring to loot the treasury. I do blame democratic policies which encouraged people to sign-up for loans they could not afford.

BO displayed amazing arrogance last nite when he spoke after the vote. Hope he & his band of jackals are ready to start stumping for new jobs in the next few elections.

The only reason republicans didn't vote for it was they didn't have to. It was going to pass anyway.

The only reason it did pass was because republicans helped write it.

Some of you are being fooled by your own republican party.