Doing what other presidents only attempted to do – including Lyndon B. Johnson and Bill Clinton – President Barack Obama signed his landmark health care overhaul March 23. Billed as the most expansive social legislation enacted in decades, Obama said, “it engulfs the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their healthcare.”
The road to this historic enactment was sometimes highly contested. From tea party goers shouting the ‘N’ word towards Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., to hall protesters in Congress during the weekend debate making homophobic comments to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of Congress.
These tones and slurs were not limited to just people outside the chambers, some lawmakers also participated. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, released a statement Monday in which he revealed he was the one who shouted “baby killer” during Rep. Bart Stupak’s, D-Mich., speech on the House floor Sunday.
Republicans assailed Democrats for moving ahead with the health care bill without any bipartisan support. “My colleagues shame us,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. “Freedom died a little bit today. Unfortunately some are celebrating.”
Blackburn referenced the fact that the House passed the healthcare measure on a 219-212 vote without one single Republican voting in favor of it. “This is a somber day for the American people,” said Rep. John A. Boehner, the House Republican leader. “By signing this bill, President Obama is abandoning our founding principle that government governs best when it governs closest to the people.”
With the strokes of 20 pens, Obama signed the measure, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, during a festive and at times raucous ceremony in the East Room of the White House. “The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see,” Obama said, adding, “Today we are affirming that essential truth, a truth every generation is called to rediscover for itself, that we are not a nation that scales back its aspirations.”
Democrats urged Republicans to stand down, given that the measure is already law.
“Now it is a fact,” declared Senator Max Baucus, D-Montana. “Now it is a law. Now it is history. Indeed, it’s historic.” Those words had little impact on attorneys general in more than a dozen states. Those attorneys, mostly Republicans, filed lawsuits contending that the measure is unconstitutional.
Mississippi’s governor, Haley Barbour a leading Republican and possible contender for the White House in 2012 asked his state’s attorney general Jim Hood, who is a Democrat, to investigate the legality of the healthcare overhaul. “The bill has serious constutional problems, starting with the fact that it forces people to purchase health insurance,” Barbour said.
This week’s signing ceremony is just the beginning on a long road of “fixes.” Republican senators renewed their vow to repeal the measure, albeit with a fresh slogan, “repeal and replace.”
See related article to find out what is included in the health care bill.
Be the first to comment