Pa editorials favor HCR bill
Editorial writers (and card-carrying socialists) around Pa are mostly in favor of the health bill --
That's change on a host of fronts and change for the better. Yet despite change being long overdue, the Republican Party dedicated itself to defending the insurance companies and keeping millions of Americans victimized by a cruel insurance market. Its leaders and foot soldiers tried to leverage this debate into a cynical, political end game to cripple a Democratic president's administration. They were not successful in the short run, and history will prove them wrong as well.
In an era when there appear to be no consequences to outright lying, no downside to racist comments or even threats of violence, Saturday's "tea party" demonstrations at the Capitol represented a new low. Demonstrators shouted the "n-word" at black members of Congress, spitting on one, and called the openly gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank a "faggot." Republican leaders denounced the behavior but only after having made common cause with these people for months. Perhaps the disgusting display will finally clue Americans into the racism that underlies much of this movement.
This is an historic moment. We welcome it, but have no illusions that the political environment, especially for the rest of the Obama agenda, has become any healthier.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader:As concerned as I am about the future economic impact of this new bill, I also know it is time to stop grousing and second-guessing. The bill appears to be reality and it’s now time we all get on with our lives and our businesses.
We’ve faced bigger challenges than how to pay for the new health care reform.
PS, the Post-Gazette editorial board also blistered Jason Altmire, for his "vote of weakness":
People in high office seldom get such a clarifying moment -- when their voice and their vote matters to the nation and to posterity. We have seen such moments with the dawn of Social Security, the declarations of war on Japan and Germany, the court rulings to end racial segregation. Jason Altmire looked his moment straight in the eye and couldn't muster the backbone to embrace change.
Some day in the future children will ask him how he voted in Congress to secure affordable basic health insurance for Americans. He'll no doubt repeat his story that he wanted a better bill, that he wanted to lower costs -- everything except that he was on the wrong side of history.