I am both happy and relieved that the healthcare bill passed. Access to affordable healthcare shouldn't be a commodity -- it shouldn't be a tool to separate financial classes within the country. For how can people pursue their unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness if they are systematically denied survival by unscrupulous insurance companies? So congratulations to America for taking a step in the right direction, to decree that healthcare isn't a privilege and that changes must be made to our current ineffective system!
And shame on the Republicans who refused to meaningfully participate in the discussions, who used violent language to express their anger and then acted surprised when Democratic offices and homes were attacked, who embraced the Tea Party protesters while some members shouted racist and homophobic slurs at the opposition, and whose tactics relied not on facts and discourse, but on fear-mongering and lies.
