Reply #10: Two answers...

[regnaD kciN]

1) "A journey of a million miles begins with a single step." There are many (Ed Schultz, for one) who believe this is only that first step toward an inevitable single-payer system. Sure, this bill is flawed, but it will be a lot easier to fix the flaws of a system already in place than to have to start all over again at square one.

2) 1993 - 1994. Lots of us remember the last time a young, dynamic Democratic president took office, promising "change," and made health-care reform the centerpiece of his agenda. More than a year later, that president had to sheepishly abandon his whole effort, without even getting a vote on a bill in either house of Congress. We also remember what happened soon thereafter: the "Republican Revolution" of November 1994.

Like it or not, Democratic administrations have been trying to move toward one form or another of universal health coverage since FDR -- and this is the first time we've even gotten one chamber to vote out a bill to do that. That's sufficient reason to celebrate, if you ask me, as long as we get back to work Monday morning to make sure that the eventual bill to land on Obama's desk is as good as it can be...and then to continue our efforts to improve the system once it's in place.