Obama Passes Healthcare Bill

I am delighted that Barack Obama has finally got his health care Bill through Congress. It's been nearly twenty years since the Clintons (and Hillary especially) first tried.

The new Bill will insure around 32 million people and save the American taxpayer money in the long run. It is the single most important piece of domestic legislation passed since the 1960s.

It took enormous arm twisting and lots of cajoling to get the thing passed (it brings to mind the famous Bismarck quote that “laws are like sausages. Its better not to see them being made”) but I don’t think that matters too much. The president and his party just needed a win and once the dust has settled the American public will come to support health care reform just as they did with Medicare in the 1960s, also denounced at the time.

In the short term the Democrats may well suffer badly as Republicans seek to exploit the electorate’s fears, but it is the Republicans who have bombed spectacularly. Their party has been pushed further to the Right, moderate sensible voices have been drowned out. Their message has been entirely negative. They have offered nothing positive in response. In the long term, it will be seen as the Republican’s great failure.

After a gruelling year, Obama has emerged as a political street fighter – not the aloof, philosophical president some had complained about. It will stand him in good stead for the future battles that lie ahead.

And the best bit of the whole vote? Well, the sight and sound of Democrats chanting “Yes We Can” in the House just after the Bill had been passed. Pure political magic.