Washington (CNN) -- The House of Representatives passed a sweeping health care bill Saturday night with a tight vote of 220-215, making it the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago.The Affordable Health Care for America Act, or H.R. 3962, restricts insurance companies from denying coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition or charging higher premiums based on gender or medical history. It also provides federal subsidies to those who cannot afford it and guarantees coverage for 96 percent of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
"...the biggest expansion of health care coverage since Medicare was created more than 40 years ago" - if that doesn't chill your marrow, you either don't pay taxes or haven't been paying attention.
We do get a glimpse into the workings of the Democratic mind:
"Democrats voted for the bill and a Republican voted for the bill. That equals bipartisan," Pelosi said later.
Got that? One Republican out of 202 voted for the bill, so it's bi-partisan. One half of one percent = a consensus. As long as someone somewhere on the other side of the aisle votes for it, it's bi-partisan. By Pelosi's criteria, Bill Clinton's impeachment was overwhelmingly bipartisan, as all of five Democrats voted to impeach. Or we could consider that 39 Democrats voted against the bill - meaning that the vote against was a LOT more bipartisan than the vote for.
In any case, the only thing that stands between this monstrosity passing and the last shreds of fiscal responsibility is the US Senate. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
That is all.
Boy, it sure is a good thing we rammed through that trillion dollar stimulus bill without reading it, isn't it?