So Why Hasn't the Sky Fallen on the Commies Who Passed Health Care Yet?

Just before the historic vote on the House floor that would send Health Care Reform to the President's desk, Republican Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio announced that we were about 24 hours from Armageddon." Yet, it hit me this morning that the sun is still shining.

It wasn't quite as warm as the overheated rhetoric the Republicans hurled at those who wanted reform: "Today we turning back the clock," said Congressman Devin Nunes of California. "For most of the 21st century people have fled the ghosts of communists dictators, [but] with passage of this bill, they will haunt Americans for generations . . . Today Democrats in the House will finally lay the cornerstone of their socialist utopia on the backs of the American people." But, it seemed, the planet would live to see another day, perhaps another year even, before the sulfur and brimstone fell from the sky, the rivers turned to blood, and the United Socialist States of America was founded.

Perhaps this really isn't all that surprising. The Republicans' sooth-saying really isn't all that accurate. In fact, as psychics go, they kinda suck. Just look at the predictions Reagan about the passage of Medicare: "[I]f you don't [stop Medicare] and I don't do it, one of these days, you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and children's children what it was once like in America when men were free." [1961]

This hasn't quite been the case. For even as Republicans sought to undermine Medicare, seniors began to realize its benefits. Since 1965, according to a study from Health Affairs, "the health of the elderly population has improved, as measured by both longevity and functional status." For example, life expectancy at age 65 increased from 14.3 years in 1960 to 17.8 years in 1998, and the chronically disabled elderly population declined from 24.9 percent in 1982 to 21.3 in 1994. Moreover, prior to Medicare, one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable care, and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.

It is not too much to hope to see these kinds of results for ALL Americans as a result of the passage of health reform. Will the bill create a North American utopia? Probably not. But, the sky isn't going to fall either. And given the choice of the two, I'll stick with progress.