One Small Step For A President

Today was a big day for Obama's most important domestic policy agenda. The Senate Finance Committee passed their version of the bill to become the final relevant committee to do so. This is the first time since Medicare was passed during the Johnson administration that any effort to improve the health care in this country has gotten out of committee. The bill passed with a vote of 14-9, including the only Republican to vote for the bill, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe.

The bill will cost 829 billion dollars over ten years, saving 81 billion in the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It would cover 29 million Americans that don't have health care access, leaving 25 million uninsured, mostly undocumented immigrants. The bill would tax expensive insurance plans, and would save money with cuts in medicare.

The main goals of reform are tougher regulations on insurance companies, an individual mandate and higher subsidies for lower income Americans. Some versions of the bill would tax millionaires at a higher rate to increase these subsidies. While the Finance Committee bill would meet all these goals, but it does not include a public option. Meaning that although all Americans would be required to buy insurance, the government would not take major steps to help everyday Americans afford that coverage.

The vote takes place on day after a report on the bill, which was payed for by the insurance companies, was released. The report, which claimed that premiums would skyrocket, was roundly criticized as Democrats as a "hatchet job." Basically, the bill gives a floor to what will become the final version, and obviously the insurance companies don't like it, which probably means that it's a good bill.

It is important that the Democrats were able to pull one Republican vote for it. It shows that at least some Republicans are negotiating in good faith. Now that bills need to be combined into one final version to be voted on on the Senate floor. Hopefully, the final version will include a public option. Equally important, it is important that all Democrats vote to end a Republican filibuster, regardless of how they intend to vote on the final bill. Obama was elected, and Democrats given huge majorities in Congress, so that the country could benefit from health care reform. It is generally accepted fact that Republicans will gain seats in 2010, and the Democrats need to realize that any loses will not be a result of them being too liberal, only a result of them not being able to deliver.