Hey buddy, why the long face?

Yeah yeah, the Democrats passed a health care bill.

I'm not all that concerned. Mostly, the thing about it that pisses me off is that the American people overwhelmingly didn't want this bill, but the Democrats pushed it anyways. Funny that they're counting it as a win for the American people when it's clearly only a political trophy.

Think about it though, did you really think the Dems learned their lesson with the Massachusetts election? Did you really think that they were going to lay down their swords and listen to the people? They have an agenda, and that's what they are going to work towards.

But here's why I'm not concerned.

The first, and most important thing, is that this marks the end of the congressional Democratic party for some time. Y'all blue bloods can be as optimistic as you want, but the Democrats have wandered the political wilderness before, and they will now wander it again; the only downside to this that I see is that now the Stupid party will have control, which is just as frightful. Hope, however, still springs eternal in the human breast, and there is always the possibility that Americans have learned their lesson with electing idiots, and might actually put some new blood into congress; there are going to be lots of seats open, which means that the incumbents will lose their stranglehold.

Keep in mind the shiny efforts that went into passing this thing. For the Dems to pull it off, they had to vote on it at almost midnight on a Sunday, with no bipartisan support; really not much partisan support since 34 Dems didn't vote in favor; they had to have some real fun with math to even get CBO's approval; and the most horrific part is that not only is the ink not even dry on the bill, but it's not even finished being written yet. Somehow this is being added up to a victory? I see it as a huge clown show with huge repercussions, because if passing a bill like this is the only way they can do it with the majority they have, imagine how little they're going to get accomplished when they're a superminority.

To top all this off, two states have passed legislation that preemptively blocks some of the bill, and over thirty others are about to pass similar legislation. This bill will be tied up in arbitration for years and years, and that's only if the reconciliation part gets passed.

This all may be fine and dandy, but there are some people out there who think that this huge piece of trash is something awesome. I know some of these people, and they are blindly optimistic because the bill is supposed to help the poor and stuff.

So how do I know that the bill is such garbage?

Well, I've had government run health care, as well as government run health insurance, and they were both every bit as pathetic as the naysayers believe. Word for word. Before that, I had never had health insurance, and afterwords I decided that the "free" system was so broken and worthless that my broke ass put together a budget and bought my own. Problem solved.

Of course I'm talking about the military health system, the VA, and Tricare (Die-care!).

It's amazing that when my health became had finally become a concern, waiting four months in between appointments just wasn't cutting it, and I figured out on my very own how to come up with enough money every month to pay for my own insurance instead of using the system that cost me nothing.

If you think about it, the military health system is very mature, and has had every oportunity to correct any shortcomings in the almost fifty years of its existence. And with that said, why do you think that - in light of this year long health care debate - your favorite news organization hasn't been braying on the doors of the ten million veterans using this system to collect their thoughts? Anyone? Next time you're hanging out with a veteran, ask them how they feel about the care they're getting through the VA, or about the treatment they got at Walter Reed. If it was favorable, the general public would have been hearing about how swell it is for decades. That it's not should tell you something.

What this boils down to in my mind is, the American people begged for this mess. If you honestly think that we've been swindled, then you're oblivious to the mindset of the general public. As it's said, we get all the government we deserve. I don't think copies of the Constitution are flying off the shelves right now, so expect things to progress to worse. This bill is just another cog in that machine, so it gives me no concern. Before too long, the machine will become insolvent and break down, and more money will be shoveled into it. Such is life. Just remember who built the machine in the first place, and ensure that they never get to build another one.

Update: Oh yeah, I forgot about this - SayUncle puts it down for those who don't understand what just happened.