Obama and healthcare reform - opinions

There were extraordinary scenes when Obama finally succeeded in getting his health-care reform bill through Congress on 21st March this year, and subsequently signed it into law; a major plank of his domestic agenda had successfully been implemented. The vote itself was interesting; as previously noted, the final vote in the House was 219 to 212 – Republicans voting against along party lines, with 34 Democrats voting against too. In the Senate the previous Christmas Eve the vote went 60-39, with Democrats and Independents voting for and Republicans voting against.

All of which demonstrates very clearly how party discipline is a funny thing – on this issue it is strong for the Republicans, but weak for the Democrats in the House. Possibly, it also shows how divided Americans as a whole are about health-care. This is the major issue which is exciting the Tea Party movement. It may just reflect how worried some Democrats in the House are about their chances in the mid-terms in November.

Useful stuff for any question about Congress, party discipline, Presidential power and the like.

In terms of the points of view, two opinions are striking – that of the Democrats who argue that it is only a thorough reform of the health-care system by government that the poor and uninsured will be covered. For Republicans, health-care reform is too expensive and smacks of socialist government (although the latter is possibly a rather extreme casting of the policy).
A useful summary of the two view points here in the Guardian, which characterises the vote as a “monumental achievement”:

… at its heart the story is about the tension in American society between the individual and the community – whether we are just a loose confederation of individuals who should be left alone to pursue self interest, or something more than that, a community of citizens with mutual ties and obligations.

More about the opinions of the two main parties soon.