What is your opinion of the passed healthcare bill?

Best I can tell it is better than nothing.

The whole debate came down to politics. The Republicans were desperate for President Obama to fail while the Democrats were desperate to pass some kind of reform.

Even if Republicans take over and repeal parts of the bill there are parts that would be hard even for them to kill. Imagine Republicans running on the platform of bringing back the ability of insurance companies to exclude preexisting conditions and allowing them to drop subscribers after they get sick. Who in their right mind other than insurance company execs would want to hand back the ability of insurance companies to screw us?

President Obama said he would rather be a good one term president than a mediocre two term president. He is willing to put his own political future on the line to do what is right. Remember that the civil rights movement helped the Republicans capitalize on their Southern Strategy but no Democrats today would say that fighting for civil rights was the wrong move even if it cost them a great deal short term.

Both parties suck, I dont like either of them. In the end the ones in power will get what they want one way or another. People of America don’t care enough to really look into it and understand why it’s entirely wrong and well I’m not going into it because miscengenmiser had a pretty nice start. The healthcare bill isn’t in the start of lies from the gov. that people have just accepted without second thought either. Wake up people we gotta do something…for real.

toadaly, time will tell. History often remembers presidents differently than they are perceived while in office.

I think of President Obama as a good quarterback with a lousy team.

As I understand it there will be a fine for someone who is able to buy insurance who doesn’t. It is possible to go to jail for not paying a fine but it is unlikely. Agreed that this is not the best approach for getting healthcare for more Americans but so far it is the best of what the lowest common denominator of 51 senators can agree on.

* President Obama said he would rather be a good one term president than a mediocre two term president.

I haven’t read the final version of this bill, but I’m guessing it still has the ‘buy insurance or go to jail’ aspect. He’ll be recorded in the history books as a mediocre one term president.

It may save some peoples´lives but even further entrenches a nauseatingly impositionist medical culture which has infected the entire world

I completely agree with jimahl on this. A single-payer system would be best but at least it is a start.

I am not crazy about this particular bill, but it will have to do for now. It is better than no bill at all. I think the only real solution is a single-payer system, and do away with for-profit health insurance. This is only a tiny baby-step in that direction.