Don’t know much about history….

Hello. I decided to use a line from the classic song “What A Wonderful World This Would Be” as a lead in tonight not to begin to list the many subjects I’m less than proficient in, but rather as a way to start to give my opinion about the historic passage of health care legislation.

Now I’m not the least bit politically savvy. I listen to all the talking heads on both sides and try to remember that they are both trying to advance their own positions by keeping the debate raging. It seems that those in favor seem to feel overly optimistic while those against seem to be big on gloom and doom. Despite all that, I still try to make up my own mind.

With that said, in this case, I’m going to go with the overly optimistic crowd. How could health care for all Americans be a bad thing? The cost? Please. If memory serves me, wasn’t it eight years of Republican / Conservative “leadership” what brought the country to the brink of financial ruin in the first place? If we are going to overspend on something, for once let it be for the benefit of people in this country, not trying to extract ourselves from a war with people who don’t appreciate our interference, nor want our way of life.

Health care in this country, or the lack of health care, has been a national embarrassment for years. Presidents Nixon and Clinton both saw the need for the legislation we now have, but couldn’t get through the partisan politics. If anyone has seen the elderly in this country have to decide between medication or food and not call it an embarrassment, I’d  be interested to know what word or phrase you’d use.

Now, I’m sure there will be parts of this legislation that may sound better in theory and not work out quite as well in practice, but we now have a place to start. Not a perfect place but hopefully a place where folks can come together, put aside their differences, and work toward a common goal that benefits all. A place free of the negativity and fear mongering that has been the hallmark of the battle against this legislation.

Conservatives are already threatening Democrats with charges that there will be heavy prices to pay at the mid term elections. It’s even been suggested by some that this piece of legislation will cost President Obama a second term. All this may be true. But if it is, to those who lead the fight and may pay the price with their own jobs, please know that you have done the right thing. That your sacrifice for the good of the many had to be made for there to be any real change. And I believe that history will show you all to be patriots.