The Big Lie about Obamacare

Lost amid the partisan sniping and procedural jousting over the passage of “Obamacare” is a fundamental, unavoidable hypocrisy - one that’s worth unmasking as Washington politicians continue to ignore the will of the American people and plunge our nation deeper into full-blown socialism.

President Barack Obama and his Congressional allies are spending money that they know we don’t have on a program that they know isn’t going to work – all in an effort to expand government’s control over the private sector and its reach into the private lives of American citizens.

Sound a bit conspiratorial?

It’s not – at least not when you turn down the partisan rhetoric (on both sides of the debate) and start examining what this monstrosity actually does.

“ObamaCare is really about who commands the country's medical resources,” an editorial in The Wall Street Journal noted the day before the legislation was passed. “It vastly accelerates the march toward a totally state-driven system, in contrast to reforms that would fix today's distorted status quo by putting consumers in control.”

With government already purchasing nearly half of all health care services in America (a system that’s rampant with fraud and anti-competitive price-fixing), just who did you think was responsible for the “distorted status quo” that Obamacare ostensibly seeks to correct?

Here’s a hint – it’s not those "evil" insurance companies, which will be receiving nearly a half-trillion dollars in “Obamacare” subsidies.

Consistent with the core fallacy of other recent socialist misadventures (like former President George Bush’s TARP bailout or Obama’s so-called “stimulus”), Washington politicians are once again attempting to solve problems that have been exacerbated by excessive government interventionism with additional government interventionism. “Dumping buckets of water on the head of a drowning victim,” if you will. - Rasmussen Reports Commentary

79% Believe US Economy in Serious Trouble

Most American voters believe it’s possible the nation’s economy could collapse, and majorities don’t think elected officials in Washington have ideas for fixing it.

The latest Fox News poll finds that 79 percent of voters think it’s possible the economy could collapse, including large majorities of Democrats (72 percent), Republicans (84 percent) and independents (80 percent).

Just 18 percent think the economy is "so big and strong it could never collapse."

Moreover, 78 percent of voters believe the federal government is "larger and more costly" than it has ever been before, and by nearly three-to-one more voters think the national debt (65 percent) is a greater potential threat to the country’s future than terrorism (23 percent).

Who has a plan for dealing with the economy? - FOX News Story

Federal Government Taking Over Student Loans from Banks

WASHINGTON -- Banks and other private lenders are about to lose a $70 billion-a-year student loan business, part of a massive overhaul of college assistance programs that has received an unexpected boost from President Barack Obama's health care success.

Industry lobbyists have watched helplessly as Democrats and the Obama administration appear on the verge of shifting student lending from private banks to the federal government.

Under the measure, private banks would no longer get fees from the government for acting as middlemen in loans to low- and middle-income students. With those savings, the government would increase Pell Grants to needy students and make it easier for workers burdened by student loans to pay them back.

The bill would mean the loss of billions of dollars in business to student lending giant Sallie Mae as well as large financial institutions such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

In an unusual twist, the fate of the student loan overhaul went from certain death in the Senate to certain victory thanks to Republican Scott Brown's election in January in the race for the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Until then, the legislation was not moving in the Senate because it lacked 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. But after Brown's election, Democrats decided that their health care initiative could pass only if Congress approved a companion bill that resolved differences between the House and Senate. That expedited measure requires only a simple majority vote.

The companion bill became a home to the student lending proposal and gave it a new lease on life.

The Senate began debating that bill Tuesday and is set to vote on it later this week. - FOX News Story

House Passes Bad Health Care Bill - Now Waiting on Senate to Fix it

The No. 2 Senate Democrat accused Republicans Wednesday of refusing to accept the finality of health care changes, a day after President Barack Obama signed the most sweeping medical system remake since Medicare.

"This is a political exercise for too many on the other side of the aisle," said Sen. Dick Durbin. "We're going to tell our people back home, 'It's time to govern. It's time to lead.' "

Durbin appeared Wednesday on a nationally broadcast interview show with South Carolina's Jim DeMint, who had said earlier this year he believed the health care overhaul would turn out to Obama's "Waterloo."

"America doesn't want a broken presidency," countered Durbin, D-Ill.

DeMint did not back down, saying "Americans are very angry," not only with the substance of the sweeping health care bill Obama signed into law Tuesday, but also with the process Democrats used to muscle it through Congress.

The pair swapped barbs on NBC's "Today" show as the Senate entered a second day of debate on a package of fixes to the new health law. These legislative adjustments were demanded by House Democrats as their price for passing the mammoth overhaul legislation that will extend coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans over the next decade.

"They're hoping that Americans don't notice this is another power grab," DeMint said of Democrats. "So we're going to bring these issues up." He accused Democrats of breaking "a lot of protocols" in the Senate and said he couldn't imagine Republicans working very hard to cooperate with Obama and Democrats on other issues.

As he put his signature on the bill at a celebrative White House ceremony, Obama declared "a new season in America" and hailed an accomplishment that had been denied to a line of presidents stretching back more than half a century.

The fix-it bill under consideration in the Senate eliminates a special Medicaid deal for Nebraska from the new law, softens a tax on insurance plans that was repugnant to organized labor, sweetens the pot with more expansive subsidies for lower-income people and offers more generous prescription drug coverage to seniors, among other changes. - ABC News Story

Top Staffers in Government Exempt from Health Care Provisions

The health care reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama Tuesday requires members of Congress and their office staffs to buy insurance through the state-run exchanges it creates – but it may exempt staffers who work for congressional committees or for party leaders in the House and Senate.

Staffers and members on both sides of the aisle call it an “inequity” and an “outrage” – a loophole that exempts the staffers most involved in writing and passing the bill from one of its key requirements.

The bill requires “congressional staff” to buy insurance from the exchanges – with a stipend from the Office of Personnel Management But page 158 of the bill defines “congressional staff” narrowly, as “employees employed by the official office of a member of congress, whether in the district office or in Washington.”

The Congressional Research Service believes a court could rule that the legislation "would exclude professional committee staff, joint committee staff, some shared staff, as well as potentially those staff employed by leadership offices.”

If that’s so, staffers who work for Nancy Pelosi in her capacity as representative from California would go into the exchange program, while staffers who work for her in her capacity as speaker would stay on the government’s plan. Other Capitol employees, like those who work for the Clerk of the House or the House Historian, would be similarly exempted. - Politico Story

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Arrested for Classroom Outburst

Republicans Fighting Reconciliation Bill in Senate

(CBS) While health care reform is the law of the land, there's still the matter of that other bill the House passed Sunday.

The reconciliation bill contains the package of fixes to the new law. It advanced to the Senate after the House's historic vote Sunday night. There, Republicans are throwing up hurdles to try to keep it from passing.

Republicans can offer unlimited amendments to this bill - and they are, reports CBS News Correspondent Nancy Cordes. First up was an amendment to prevent Democrats from taking $500 billion from Medicare to pay for new programs.

"This will all end up rolling into a giant ball like a huge, massive asteroid headed at Earth which is basically going to land on our children's heads as debt," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said.

Complete Coverage: Health Care Reform

Republicans say their amendments are designed to improve a health care bill they don't like, but some amendments are clearly designed to paint Democrats into a corner. "No Erectile Dysfunction Drugs to Sex Offenders" reads one from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

Vote against it, and Democrats make themselves vulnerable to embarrassing campaign ads in the fall. Vote for it, and they risk changing the bill so that it has to go back to the House for yet another tough vote. - CBS News Story

13 States File Lawsuit Against Health Care Bill Mandate

(AP) Attorneys general from 13 states sued the federal government Tuesday, claiming the landmark health care overhaul bill is unconstitutional just seven minutes after President Barack Obama signed it into law.

The lawsuit was filed in Pensacola after the Democratic president signed the bill the House passed Sunday night.

"The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage," the lawsuit says.

Special Report: Health Care Reform

Legal experts say it has little chance of succeeding because, under the Constitution, federal laws trump state laws.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is taking the lead and is joined by attorneys general from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Colorado and Louisiana. All are Republicans except James "Buddy" Caldwell of Louisiana, who is a Democrat.

GOP Looks to Courts, Polls to Repeal Health Care Bill

Some states are considering separate lawsuits and still others may join the multistate suit. - CBS News Story

Special Intersts Lobbist Hit Capitol Hard for Health Care

Behind President Barack Obama’s public push to pass sweeping health care reform, there was an equally intense behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to influence the legislation and the outcome of Sunday’s historic vote.

Powerful interest groups worked almost around the clock last week, meeting with wavering Democratic lawmakers and huddling with leadership staff to push reform over the finish line.

The powerful seniors’ lobbying group, AARP, flew in local staffers from about 15 states to pitch their House lawmakers on why reform was important to their constituents, spreading “the gospel with members that they have relationships with,” said AARP Senior Vice President David Sloane.

Kelli Fritts was one of enlisted locals.

A longtime Colorado state lobbyist, Fritts came in to lobby her state’s Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Betsy Markey, who was on the fence early last week. A freshman facing a tough re-election race, Markey voted against the House bill in November and was being pressured to flip and support the final reform package.

Fritts understood Markey’s rural, Republican-leaning district having participated in a town hall meeting with the congresswoman last summer, where the crowd of about 300 seniors had its share of skeptics.

So Fritts was called to Washington make the final sale. - Politico Story

Al Sharpton on Obama's Socialist Health Care Charge

Lawmakers Don't Give Authority to Enforce Health Care Bill

The health care reform bill to be signed Tuesday by President Obama would give the IRS a new mandate to enforce some of the initiative's key provisions -- but apparently not the means to do so.

Under the Senate bill approved Sunday by the House, the Internal Revenue Service would be called on to ensure Americans are obtaining health care insurance and businesses are offering it, or else they could face fines. Many would receive subsidies to help pay for insurance.

The emphasis is on incentives for healthy people to buy insurance, thereby spreading the risk of older, less healthy people over a broader pool of customers. For those earning between $22,050 and $88,200, there are tax credits for health insurance premiums. In addition, individuals initially face fines of up to $750 for not buying in; businesses would face fines of up to $3,000.

It will cost the IRS $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years to handle the new workload, according to a March 11 estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. But the Senate bill doesn’t provide any funding for the expansion of the IRS, and it virtually ties the hands of the IRS to collect fees on individuals and businesses who don’t buy health insurance.

“The use of liens and seizures otherwise authorized for collection of taxes does not apply to the collection of this penalty," according to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation. "Non-compliance with the personal responsibility requirement to have health coverage is not subject to criminal or civil penalties under the code and interest does not accrue for failure to pay such assessments in a timely manner."

That means there’s virtually nothing the IRS can do to enforce the fines in the legislation, forcing the tax man to rely on the consciences of taxpayers or to skim off any federal benefits, tax credits or refunds they have coming to them.

"In other words, if you're due a refund or some other federal benefit, and you didn't obtain qualified insurance, your refund or benefit will be tapped for your fee,” said Bill Ahearn, director of policy and communications for the Tax Foundation.

“People who aren't due any refunds or federal benefits will apparently face no collection action, as the IRS's hands will be effectively tied and it will be a truly voluntary tax." - FOX News Story

Abortion Activist Become Nightmare for Democrats

After nearly derailing the health care bill that passed the House on Sunday, the abortion issue is poised to make a political comeback, returning the familiar wedge issue to the campaign trail after a brief hiatus.

Both abortion-rights and anti-abortion groups say the experience of health care reform has served as a reminder of the stark consequences of elections — and of the need to elect reliable allies who will work hard to advance and defend their agendas.

The Family Research Council, which has already spent nearly $2 million this cycle backing anti-abortion candidates across the country, is now considering wading into battles against anti-abortion Democrats like Pennsylvania Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper, Virginia Rep. Thomas Perriello, Indiana Rep. Brad Ellsworth and West Virginia Reps. Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall — all of whom voted for the health care bill Sunday.

“Because of what pro-lifers see as betrayal, it’s personal now,” said Tom McClusky, vice president of governmental affairs for the Family Research Council. “There’s passion, but we want to make sure that passion is directed in the right place.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan told POLITICO that the lesson learned from the health care battle was that the abortion-rights movement, which has lacked the votes needed to shut down abortion funding language from anti-abortion Democrats throughout the health care reform push, needs more allies in Congress. - Politico Story

Democrats in Senate Become the Party of NO!

Democratic Senate leaders are fiercely lobbying their rank and file to hold the line against GOP efforts to change the final piece of their yearlong push to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

Knowing that they need only 51 votes to push a reconciliation bill to final passage, Democratic leaders are telling their senators that each Republican amendment is a “poison pill” that would derail the process. The reconciliation bill is designed to fix the health care legislation that President Barack Obama will sign into law Tuesday.

But with little to lose at this point, Senate Republicans are planning an onslaught of politically sensitive amendments to a health care reconciliation bill, searching high and low for any way to derail the final legislation.

Republicans suffered a defeat on a key parliamentary ruling Monday night, but GOP aides say they’ve discovered drafting errors in the legislation that would force the Senate parliamentarian to rule in their favor — and send the reconciliation bill back to the House one more time.

Republicans will have plenty of opportunities to make life difficult, ranging from amendments to save Medicare Advantage from cuts to blocking taxes on the middle class.

Democrats are also urging fellow senators to withstand the temptation to offer amendments of their own, allowing the party to finalize the legislation this week and move on to jobs and financial reform.

Thus far, senior Democrats have had some success urging liberals to hold off on an amendment to establish a public insurance option. - Politico Story

States Can't Afford Health Care Bill - Plan to Challenge in Court

(CNN) -- Ten states plan to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new health care reform bill, Florida's attorney general announced Monday.

Bill McCollum, the Republican attorney general under fellow Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, told a news conference that the lawsuit would be filed once President Obama signs the health care bill into law. He said he'll be joined by his counterparts in Alabama, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Washington.

All of the attorneys general in the 10 states mentioned by McCollum are Republican, but McCollum said the lawsuit would be about the law and not politics.

Also Monday, Virginia's Republican attorney general said his state would file a lawsuit challenging the health care bill. It was unclear if Virginia would join the other states or proceed on its own.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill on Sunday night, and Obama intends to sign it Tuesday, according to Democratic sources.

McCollum said the lawsuit would challenge the bill's provision requiring people to purchase health insurance, along with provisions that will force state government to spend more on health care services.

"This is a tax or a penalty on just living, and that's unconstitutional," he said of the mandate to purchase health coverage. "There's no provision in the Constitution of the United States giving Congress the power to do that."

McCollum also said that portions of the bill would force states to spend money they don't have, which he called a violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

"There's no way we can do what's required in this bill and still provide for education, for foster care, for the incarceration of prisoners, all the other things that are in this bill," he said.

McCollum said he expected the lawsuit to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Later Monday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration expected to win any lawsuits filed against the health care bill. - CNN Story

Now the Health Care Battle Comes to True Americans

With Republican attorneys general prepared to file lawsuits hours after health care reform passed, some of the GOP's top voices are calling for a repeal of President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.

Both lines of attack, while possibly useful rallying cries, are long shots. Repeal would, at the very least, probably require that Republicans take both houses of Congress with sufficient majorities to override a presidential veto. Legal challenges directed against the insurance mandates in the bill are speculative and would probably take years to reach the Supreme Court.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called for a repeal in a post on National Review's “The Corner,” writing: “President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.”

Romney, one of the frontrunners to challenge Obama in 2012, later in the post called for a repeal of what he framed as a “historic usurpation of the legislative process.”

Romney had been laying low during much of the health care debate – since as governor he provided his residents with near universal coverage using many of the same policies Democrats enacted – making his call for repeal particularly notable.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a column for Human Events swore that health care reform “will not stand.”

“This is not the end of the fight it is the beginning of the fight,” he wrote.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele trashed the passage of health care as “the first vote for the end of representative government” in a statement Sunday night. And during an earlier interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Steele said the Republican message for the fall is “absolutely” about repealing the bill. - Politico Story

On the Attack - Fire Nancy Pelosi

Republicans promised to make the health care legislation a campaign issue in the upcoming midterm elections, and they wasted no time making good on their word.

In the wake of the Democrats' historic health care vote Sunday night, the Republican National Committee launched a "money bomb" to "fire Nancy Pelosi." The 40-hour online fundraising effort aims to raise just over $400,000 to help the GOP win 40 House seats and reclaim the majority.

"In defiance of the will of the American people, Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat cronies have authorized a government takeover of your health care," RNC Chairman Michael Steele wrote in an e-mail to supporters announcing the money bomb. "Nancy Pelosi has gone too far."

If Republicans were to take over the House, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) would become speaker, an idea he already seems comfortable with. - CBS News Story

Nancy Pelosi: Democrats George Bush - GOP Aims to Repeal Health Care

Within moments of House passage of the historic health care bill, Republican House and Senate challengers across the nation were quick to react and vehement in their responses—with many promising to work vigorously for repeal.

Top GOP candidates, including Steve Stivers in Ohio’s 15th District and Stephen Fincher in Tennessee’s open 8th District pronounced themselves “appalled” in their press releases.

Former Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, running against Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy in Pennsylvania’s 8th District referred to the bill as a “disaster.”

“When I am elected to Congress I will lead the fight to repeal this horrendous legislation,” added Republican Jim Barnett, who is running for the open seat in Kansas’s 1st District.

Barnett was one of many Republicans promising to work toward undoing the landmark legislation.

Florida GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio said in a press release he wanted to “reiterate my strong support for repealing it and offering alternative reforms that will lower health care costs without growing government and breaking the bank.”

Nick Jordan, a Republican running for the open 3rd District seat in Kansas, promised “to work tirelessly to repeal this harmful legislation."

In Connecticu’s 3rd District, two Republicans seeking the GOP nod against freshmen Democratic Rep. Jim Himes—Tom Hermann and Rob Russo—also highlighted their plans to vote for repeal if elected in November.

Russo went even went a step further, promising attention to the matter right out of the gate.

“I promise the very first act I will take as a Congressman will be to repeal this TRILLION dollar, job-killing, health care damaging legislation," he said in a press release not long after the bill passed the House.

Numerous challengers used the occasion to link their Democratic opponents to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. - Politico Story

Health Care Law to Face Legal Challenges

The health care reform fight isn't over. It's just changing venues.

Now that the House, in a historic vote, has passed the Senate's bill and sent it to the president's desk, state lawmakers and attorneys general already are lining up to challenge its constitutionality and wage an outside-the-Beltway war against it in the courts.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli was the first to announce Monday that he will file a legal challenge -- as soon as Obama signs the bill.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum also plans to announce Monday morning that he and top prosecutors from nine other states are filing a lawsuit to "protect the rights" of the American people from the bill.

They are expected to sue over the bill's mandate that requires everyone to buy health insurance.

"The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty," McCollum said in a statement.

The lawsuit will be the first post-passage shot in a legal fight that's been brewing for months.

While some Republicans have threatened to pursue repealing the legislation down the road, the most immediate challenge will take place in the courts.

At least three dozen state legislatures are considering proposals to challenge the federal legislation. Some are pursuing amendments to their constitutions by ballot question; others are looking to change state law.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter recently became the first governor to sign state legislation requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government over the mandatory coverage clause.

Constitutional lawyers have questioned whether such a lawsuit could be successful, since federal law trumps state law. But opponents are looking to get around that by questioning the law's constitutionality. - FOX News Story

Health Care Means Higher Taxes and Bigger Deficit

As this is written, the lobbying of House Democrats on the health care bill is going on apace, and every hour brings news of another no vote converted to yes, or a yes vote switching to no.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership is expressing confidence that the jerry-rigged bill they've put together will pass -- which is evidence either that they have the 216-vote majority pretty well in hand or that, like any party's House leadership, they're professing confidence to prevent a stampede against them. Republicans are saying the Democrats haven't gotten to 216 yet but admit they're getting close.

At a rally Friday, Barack Obama called on critics to stop talking about public opinion polls or the messy legislative process and to focus on the specifics of the bill. O.K.

The first thing to be said is that it would vastly increase government spending. Democrats have been focusing on the Congressional Budget Office's (preliminary) finding that it would reduce the federal deficit. But that's misleading because the CBO is required to assume that Congress won't increase the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors (the doc fix) as it has done every year for a decade -- and as the Democratic leaders may be planning to do permanently later this year.

Over the last 40 years, federal government spending has hovered around 21 percent of the gross domestic product. The Obama budgets have pushed that up to 25 percent. The health care bill threatens to keep it in that vicinity indefinitely. And that, as the CBO has said, means deficits around 5 percent of GDP as far as the eye can see -- or higher taxes. Pelosi and other Democrats have been eyeing a value-added tax, i.e., a national sales tax.

The bill begins the march to higher taxes. High earners will pay 3.8 percent more in Medicare tax, on top of a promised increase, from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, in their income tax rate. Economists of every ideological stripe agree that raising taxes in a recession will slow or prevent recovery. The bill also creates a 3.8 percent tax on interest and dividend income above certain levels beginning in 2013. That's another growth-killer. - Rasmussen Reports

Health Care Passes While Majority Oppose It

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a House of Representatives vote today on the health care reform plan proposed by the President Obama and congressional Democrats. Yet while in Congress there has been months of posturing and shifting of political tactics, voter attitudes have remained constant: A majority oppose the plan being considered by the legislators.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll, taken Friday and Saturday nights, shows that 41% of likely voters favor the health care plan. Fifty-four percent (54%) are opposed. These figures have barely budged in recent months.

Another finding that has remained constant is that the intensity is stronger among those who oppose the plan. The latest findings include 26% who Strongly Favor the plan and 45% who Strongly Oppose it.

The partisan divide remains constant as well. Seventy-four percent (74%) of Democrats favor the plan, while 87% of Republicans are opposed. As for those not affiliated with either major party, 34% are in favor, and 59% are opposed. - Rasmussen Reports Poll

Congress Approval only at 14%

(CBS) Americans aren't sure about the implications of the health care reform legislation passed late Sunday by the House of Representatives, and they remain skeptical about whether the bill will help or hurt them.

In a CBS News poll conducted before the conclusion of Sunday's vote, a majority of Americans admitted they were still confused over how the reforms will affect them and their families. Just 42 percent said they had a good understanding of its likely impact.

There was a lot of confusion even among Democrats, who mostly supported the President's reform efforts. Just 37 percent of Democrats said they had a good understanding of the bill.

The confusion over reform - and the long-running health care debate - has not endeared Congress to the American public. The legislature's overall approval rating was near an all-time low.

Just 14% of Americans said they approve of the way Congress is handling its job, while 76 percent - the highest figure ever - said they disapprove. Approval of Congress has dropped 16 points during the past year. - CBS News Story

Health Care - Partisan Politics or Change?

President Obama, with Vice President Biden at his side, hailed historic passage of the health care reform package Sunday evening, stating that the vote proves government "still works for the people."

Passage, he said, showed that lawmakers "didn't give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear."

"Instead," he said, "we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things."

The president thanked members of Congress, stating that while they didn't have an easy vote, they made "the right vote." He also thanked his staff, the vice president and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The vote, he said, "answers the dreams of so many who have fought for this reform." He said the package was "worthy of the people we were sent here to serve" and hailed the people who had fought for it, among those who knocked on doors to encourage their neighbors to back the bill.

"This moment is possible because of you," said the president.

Mr. Obama went through the bill's provisions, stating that "this isn't radical reform, but it is major reform."

The bill "will not fix everything that ails our health care system, but it moves us decisively in the right direction," he said. "This is what change looks like." - CBS News Story

Health Care Vote - Party over People?

The polarizing health care votes cast late Sunday will have a profound effect on reelection campaigns across the nation, leaving a host of House Democrats—and a few Republicans—to explain or defend a politically treacherous vote that could determine control of the House come November.

Some members of Congress will end up with primary challenges as a result. Others may have signed their own political death warrant.

Here is POLITICO's rundown of lawmakers whose reelection prospects have been significantly imperiled by their announced support of—or opposition to—health care reform. - Politico Story

Health Care Passes - Now Comes the Spin

With sweeping health care reform almost reality, another battle is about to begin to define what it means for a skeptical public.

Whether it is the Democratic definition that prevails or the Republican one, the outcome will havehuge consequences for the 2010 midterm elections, and ultimately forPresident Barack Obama’s chances of re-election in 2012.

Starting Monday, a coalition of progressive groups — from labor unions to health care advocates — will sink millions of dollars into television advertising and sponsor grassroots events in swing House districts thanking Democrats for passing the law and highlighting its importance for average Americans.

“We’re going to let our friends know we are going to be there for them,” said AFSCME President Gerald McEntee. “We expect in three months, the American people will understand the bill and they will be happy and satisfied with it.”

Health care stakeholders — including drug makers and insurance companies — are also weighing a second, post-passage public relations campaign that would educate the public about future insurance options and streamline the enrollment process, which is scheduled to begin in 2014.

Republicans scoff at the idea that the Democrats can quickly turn around public opinion, which most polls show runs against the reform package. And they are vowing to bring relentless attention on those who cast the “yea” votes for reform.

“I don’t think any American is going to forget this vote anytime soon,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told POLITCO. - Politico Story

Health Care Passes - See Who Voted Which Way

Health care reform: How House members voted The House voted Sunday night on the Senate bill for health care reform, passing it 219 to 212. Find out how each member of the House voted below, beginning with the Democrats in favor.

Final vote tally
YES: 219
NO: 212

Click Here To See Who Voted and How

How Much Will Health Care Really Cost?

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- The momentous vote the House took on Sunday made far-reaching changes to the American health care system.

When enacted, it will extend coverage to 32 million more people. It will protect policyholders from being bounced for pre-existing illnesses. It will expand Medicare prescription drug coverage and offer subsidies to help people pay for insurance. (Highlights of the bill.)

The expansion of coverage isn't cheap. According to a preliminary estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation would cost $940 billion over the course of a decade. Offsetting provisions would reduce deficits by $143 billion in the first 10 years and by more than $1 trillion in the following decade.

But the economic mechanics of health care reform are exceedingly complex. Does the legislation do enough to protect the budget?

CNNMoney asked a panel of fiscal experts to size up the legislation from a budget perspective. - CNN Story