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WASHINGTON (AP) — Summoned to success by President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled Congress approved historic legislation Sunday night extending health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans and cracking down on insurance company abuses, a climactic chapter in the century-long quest for near universal coverage.
Widely viewed as dead two months ago, the Senate-passed bill cleared the House on a 219-212 vote, with Republicans unanimous in opposition.
Congressional officials said they expected Obama to sign the bill as early as Tuesday.
A second measure — making changes in the first — was lined up for passage later in the evening. It would then go to the Senate, where Democratic leaders said they had the votes to pass it. Read more.
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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kamm on March 21 at 9:52 p.m.
Yea! And for all the naysayers- It’s over; it’s history. No one can see into the future to critique its success or failure so take a deep breath and move on to another topic.
Cabbage Boy on March 21 at 10:04 p.m.
yeah so, bite me. is that what you are saying?
What a crock of crap.
Phaedrus on March 21 at 10:12 p.m.
typical cb, putting words into someone’s mouth. bitter much?
spokelooneh on March 21 at 10:13 p.m.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
Buy lotsa guns and ammo, only American-made of course.
Cabbage Boy on March 21 at 10:23 p.m.
Typical stalker Phead. So yeah, you can too.
Cabbage Boy on March 21 at 10:24 p.m.
Not the end of the world, just the end of the democratic party.
fortboise on March 21 at 10:48 p.m.
Sorry, Cabbage Boy. The Republican Party is the losing side. Duh.
That whole scare tactic about “you’d better not, or else”?
Fail.
Phaedrus on March 21 at 10:56 p.m.
Typical stalker Phead. So yeah, you can too—cb
What?!? I can too what?
You’re bitter and somewhat off kilter and I’m a stalker for commenting? Seriously? Get a grip, Boy
Gary D Rhodes on March 22 at 7:30 a.m.
It will be interesting when the 32 million people realize that the coverage being “given” to them is going to come in the form of an IRS agent at their door, forcing them to buy a government approved health insurance policy from an evil insurance company.
But the good news is, the IRS is Hiring!
Sisyphus on March 22 at 7:53 a.m.
That’s funny Gary. Especially since the cost of reform for Americans is less than a couple year’s of military occupation in the middle east from which America received little except engendering hundreds of thousands of people who now hate us. And I figure when people reflect that America went in to a trillion dollars worth of debt to give tax revenue to the richest one percent in the nation from which we received a devastated economy as a reward, this provision to assist the middle class in obtaining affordable health care will prove much more popular than the policies pursued by borrow and spend Republicans.
Sisyphus on March 22 at 8:09 a.m.
David Frum’s Waterloo analogy is a must read.
http://www.frumforum.com/waterloo
OrangeTV on March 22 at 8:57 a.m.
The entertainment value of watching the Cabbage Boys of the world have psychological meltdowns on public blogs will at least make the whole thing worth it.
Cabbage Boy on March 22 at 9:37 a.m.
No meltdown here. At least not like the OTV meltdowns of the past over a dead cat.
I just likened Kamms response to what he/she seemed to be saying.
Phaedrus on March 22 at 10:06 a.m.
At least not like the OTV meltdowns of the past over a dead cat.—cb
Wow, cheap, nasty, personal shot. Boy you’re hitting all time lows, what is it the pressure of the Pope sex scandal?
OrangeTV on March 22 at 10:10 a.m.
Cabbage Boy, you are truly despicable.
OrangeTV on March 22 at 10:13 a.m.
In fact: Bye all. I don’t need to come here and deal with personal low blows and garbage from creeps like CB. My pearls are officially rattling, I’m gone. This site has stressed me out way too many times in the past and I think I’ll join Toadman in self-imposed exile. Ta!
Cabbage Boy on March 22 at 10:16 a.m.
But I thought you were having fun watching me melt down?
DFO on March 22 at 11:12 a.m.
@ OTV re: “In fact: Bye all. I don’t need to come here and deal with personal low blows and garbage from creeps like CB.”
Never say never, my friend. You’re too much a part of Huckleberries Online to be chased off by another poster here. Take a deep breath and a day or two off, and get back in the game. It’d be a sorry welcome back to the blog for me, if you pull a Toadman.
DFO on March 22 at 11:26 a.m.
@ Cabbage Boy; your 10:11 attempt to out another commenter here has earned you a trip to the cooler for the rest of the day. You know better than that. Also, the post has been deleted.
Fishwife on March 22 at 11:29 a.m.
To get this thread back on track, here is my re-post from a related thread above:
Why does Rep. Jim Clark and his gaggle of right wing nuts hate Idaho families by denying them guaranteed health insurance? Now that national health insurance reform becomes law, Clark’s resolution requires the Attorney General to file a lawsuit excluding Idaho from federally mandated health coverage. Will the AG have the cajones to refuse? Why was Clark, Labrador, et. al. proclaiming victory when Governor Otter signed this senseless resolution. Victory over what? Over the fact that they screwed idaho families and small businesses who can’t afford to provide health insurance ?
Phaedrus on March 22 at 11:32 a.m.
Funny yet sad how the self righteous seem to lose track of their moral compass when things don’t go their way, resorting to morally repugnant shots at others. Well at least there is Saturday confession.
OrangeTV on March 22 at 11:35 a.m.
DFO, you know I can’t go away for very long (what was that, two hours, he he.) I was just VERY upset by that.
But my point is this: bitches be as cutting and catty as they like toward me when it comes to politics, but when it gets that kind of personal level, I get pissy. I have a very thick skin generally and I never make hurtful personal comments about other HBOers. CB was certainly exhibiting signs of a meltdown or at least a sort of tantrum, and it inspired my original comment. Perhaps it’s my own fault for using him specifically as an example (only being halfway serious as usual) when I could have said it would be fun to watch conservatives melt down instead. My bad. However, for CB to bring up something like what he did was incredibly uncalled for, way beyond the scope of the subject at hand and politics in general, and served no purpose other than to upset me.
The cat I lost was 10 years ago and my mention of that incident here was at least 2 years ago. It’s a little telling that CB had to dig that far back to some up with a scuzzy personal jab about me. Obviously, CB doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a pet owner and real animal lover (that is also rather telling), and how important pets are for people who cannot or do not want to have children. They are family and when one dies, it can really be like losing a family member, especially when you have the pet for as many years as I did. I’m sure there are many here who can relate to that feeling.
If I had lost a child 10 years ago, would CB come on here and use that as a vile comeback to be hurtful and mean to someone? If he did, would he not probably hit the cooler for quite a while? Well, that’s how he made me feel this morning, bringing back all of that sadness for me unexpectedly and appropriate of nothing.
Sisyphus on March 22 at 11:36 a.m.
Dave, you gotta front page Reagan speechwriter David Frum’s post, Waterloo. Its going viral.
http://www.43rdstateblues.com/?q=node/5498
Fork on March 22 at 11:45 a.m.
I’m 99% sure the Attorney General doesn’t have the option of refusing. Unless he quits over it, of course.
My guess is Wasden believes wholeheartedly in the resolution.
spokelooneh on March 22 at 11:56 a.m.
It may be that some devout Catholics that still support the Church’s hierarchy despite its despicable behavior in the now world-wide priest abuse scandals and the cover-up of such abuses are finally experiencing a strong case of cognitive dissonance that causes them to lash out in mean and unpredictable ways.