After months of fighting delays and anguish in President’s Obama quest to redo the hungry health care industry he has seemingly won. On closer inspection of this supposed victory it becomes apparent that with this particular piece of legislation the only winners are the health care industry.
Yesterday however, Obama declared victory. Still the deal is not a final blow and most of the Senators involved in approving the bill readily admit the shortcomings of the bill and that it was rushed in favor of expediency. Insiders like Senator Harry Reid of Nevada the Democratic majority leader reported that Obama was pretty happy with the status of the health care reform bill.
Obama himself declard, “a major step forward” and the climate change agreement an “important breakthrough.” Though he also admitted that the bill is far from enough and not as close to passage as many in the media suspect.
Of course political analysts are saying that the deal itself is not going to help Obama or the Democrats with their polling nor will it energize Democrats. Most importantly everyone agrees that the bill is simply not good in its present form and unlikely to either fix the ailing economy or save our country from the growing health care costs. degrees by midcentury.
On the other hand there are still at least some changes that the Democrats have demanded though it has lost many other changes, but at least it stands a decent chance of being passed. The New York Times sums it up very well:
Mr. Obama has put a high value on process and keeping things moving, recognizing that history generally does not remember the to and fro, only the big sweep of presidential accomplishments. He may not get the health care plan he envisioned but, if the legislation passes, he will insure 30 million more people, stop insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and at least try to rein in costs. He will not end climate change in his presidency, and may not get the market-based emission caps he wants, but he may move the country, and the world, toward meaningful action.
Of course, to many on both sides of the aisle, there is a less sympathetic narrative. To the left, Mr. Obama seems increasingly to lack the fire to fight on matters of principle. To the right, he appears to be overreaching, saddling the country with debt and the weight of a bloated and overly intrusive government.
