It actually happened

Well, something got done this morning. (I’m writing on Tuesday the 23rd.) Something big. President Obama signed the health-care reform bill and, barring last minute bloops, bleeps and sabotage from Senate Republicans, this landmark legislation is on its way to becoming the law of the land.

The Democrats made a big deal out of it and milked the moment for all it was worth. They should. They pulled it off. Two months ago, I was one of the many who thought the health-care bill had missed its very small window of opportunity, and had begun its downward slide to the scrap heap of history. Now, it’s looking like law. For all of its flaws, its complexities, its enormity, it’s a good thing that it passed. As so many have pointed out in the last few months, with something of this magnitude, the important thing is to just get the party started. Just get it passed, get it done, get it on the books, and get it installed. Many tweaks, adjustments and corrections will undoubtedly come in the next few years. But just make this thing real. That’s what counts. Just construct the starting gate. Pour the foundation. And in the process, make history.

It’s disturbing that not one Republican was in the room this morning to be part of this. It really is. At what point do they stop choking on their extremely bitter bile, and come around to the possibility that this health-care stuff might actually do some good? I mean, there might actually be some teabaggers out there, and maybe some birthers, too, who just may have children with some nasty, serious diseases, also known as pre-existing conditions. Those kids are currently uninsured and face brutal financial burdens, because every stinkin’ health provider currently in business can’t stamp “Rejected” on their applications fast enough. And so the parents of those kids, who somehow got twisted up into hating this health-care bill because they’re deathly afraid of “socialized medicine,” are getting killed in the wallet every time their children get sick, because they’re going deeper and deeper into debt that they’ll very likely never repay just to deal with the latest round of doctor bills.

Well, now those sick kids of tea party looney tunes can get insured. Not in 2014. But in a few months after this bill becomes law. Those kids will be eligible for insurance, because this reform outlaws the rejection of children due to pre-existing conditions. These kids will get insured, and their parents just might not be pummeled into the poorhouse after all. Not because of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Bill Kristol, but because of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama. Will that make a difference? Will that help? Will we see a teabagger on a newscast next year stand up and have the class and the balls to say thank you to the Democrats for saving his cancer-stricken child’s life?