Health Care Reform Bill Passes House

America is now one very big, very important step closer to realizing its greatness.

This New York Times article does a nice job exploring the jubilation of the Democrats and the absolute terror of the Republicans, who are understandably frightened that rich people will have to shoulder some higher taxes so that poor people -- although health care costs are daunting for the middle-class as well -- can get medical coverage in the world's richest nation.

Of course, objections to the legislation are much more numerous than this, and generally cloaked in more nuance: it's bad for the economy; it will destroy America's medical ingenuity; our quality of care will diminish; and it's just too damn expensive.

My closest Republican friend, an able and witty contributor to this blog, has warned that this "bill is a disaster" and opined that there are "better ways to do" health care reform. He is convinced that the "particulars" of the bill will prove very harmful to and costly for America. I think he's wrong.

I will admit that there are flaws, as every single piece of legislation passed in American history has had. I think Democrats understand this point: “Our plan is not perfect, but it is a good start toward providing affordable health care to all Americans,” said Representative Peter A. DeFazio of Oregon in the NYT article.

But my good friend surely understands that political capital is not inexhaustible and certainly not interminable. Those who call for delaying passage of this bill and demand more and more changes often seem to be less interested in creating a more perfect piece of legislation than in stopping its passage altogether. For the longer Obama waited, the more criticism he would endure from those who elected him partially (primarily, for many) to deliver on this promise. He has been chided unfairly for months about his inability to follow through on campaign promises, and the more unpopular his performance in office becomes, the more probable it is for a few allies here and there to cast their lot elsewhere.

Waiting one more month to vote on this could have been a disaster to Democratic efforts. It passed the House just barely, and the opposite may have been true one month later. Further changes to the bill would have likely accomplished the following:

1. Upset its current supporters.
2. Somewhat assuaged its opponents, though probably not enough to convince them to vote otherwise.
3. The changes would have been so substantial as to render the bill a hollow piece of legislation that does not bring the needed reform. The winner: no one.

Oh, and one last thing: Kudos to Representative Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, the lone Republican to vote in favor of the legislation.

Now, onto the Senate...