Obama signs health care bill

Well kids, it's finally happened: the health care bill has been signed into law by President Obama. After the House passed the compromise bill late Sunday evening, Obama signed the bill this morning in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. The bill must now only clear the Senate (the Senate must approve the changes that the House made to the bill after the Senate originally passed it in December) with a simple majority of 51 in a reconciliation vote, with the Democrats expected to easily garner the necessary votes. Important aspects of the bill include the fact that small business owners will receive tax breaks to help cover the cost of providing health insurance to their employees, insurance companies won't be able to drop or deny coverage to children because of pre-existing medical conditions, and insurance companies won't be able to drop people from coverage when they get sick or place yearly limits on the amount of health care people receive. Republicans have vowed to do their best to hinder the bill's approval in the Senate and the attorney generals of 13 states have already filed lawsuits against the bill. After signing the bill, Obama said "We are not a nation that scales back its aspirations. We are not a nation that falls prey to doubt or mistrust. We don't fall prey to fear. We are a nation that does what is hard, what is necessary, what is right." This is an amazing development, as it pretty much validates the first year of Obama's presidency after it seemed to be a waste. It's hard to believe that after all this time health care finally passed, and I'm not surprised that there are many opposed to it. I don't really know what to think of comprehensive health care, as I don't know the ins and outs of it, but it seems like a great idea in theory. We'll just have to see if it actually lives up to the hype when put into practice. Another good thing: barring a strange turn of events in the Senate, I probably won't have to write any more blogs about the health care debate - yes!!!!!!!!!! If you're hungry for yet more information on this issue, visit the friendly folks at your local website http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/23/health.care.main/index.html?hpt=Sbin.