Well, I have little to add to the nattering nabobs out there, but I'm pleased we passed it.
As to the post-script, I'm with E.J. : "By temperament, the president is more a consensus builder than a warrior. But he is also a practical man who wants to accomplish big things. On Sunday, he did just that on health care, and he earned a place in history."
It was the right thing to do. We'll have to keep tweaking it, of course, but 30m more people with health insurance is clearly better for the world from a purely utilitarian perspective.
Now I'm curious to see how this unfolds over the rest of the year. I think it's definitely better for the Dems that it passed, the question is how this will affect the mid-terms. I was intruiged by Frum's observation:
"I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it mobilizes supporters – but by mobilizing them with hysterical accusations and pseudo-information, overheated talk has made it impossible for representatives to represent and elected leaders to lead. The real leaders are on TV and radio, and they have very different imperatives from people in government. Talk radio thrives on confrontation and recrimination. When Rush Limbaugh said that he wanted President Obama to fail, he was intelligently explaining his own interests. What he omitted to say – but what is equally true – is that he also wants Republicans to fail. If Republicans succeed – if they govern successfully in office and negotiate attractive compromises out of office – Rush’s listeners get less angry. And if they are less angry, they listen to the radio less, and hear fewer ads for Sleepnumber beds.
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."
I like thinking of this as a rejection of the hatred-spewers, but the irony is (as Frum notes) this passage just makes them more powerful. I hope bi-partisan action on immigration and jobs will take some of the pressure out of this tire, or we could be in for some real social upheaval.