The only ones celebrating are the ones who will be collecting the fines from people who can't afford to buy insurance at the ridiculous rates that it will cost. And of course the insurance companies who will be making huge priofits. Obama is paying back the insurance lobby for accepting the bailout.

The people that can't afford to buy health insurance can get medicaid. If they don't qualify for medicaid, then they can afford health insurance. I would rather they be forced to buy insurance than have it the way it is now and have them show up to the ER on our dime when they decide they need health. They have mooched long enough...get in the insurance pool and pay your share.

Common sense has trimphed - no small feat since more often since Tea Potty, nonsense has triumphed mostly.

Crush88.

And yet healthcare in the USA is the most expensive in the developed world. Politics aside, it just makes more sense to have more people pay into the pool. People can't work and pay taxes if they're sick or disabled.

@Crush88 - The thing most opponents to health care reform don't get, including you apparently, is that it isn't a question of WHETHER we will pay for other people's health care...it's HOW. Currently, you and I and everyone else are paying for health care delivered in the most expensive, least efficient possible way - through Emergency Rooms, which must treat people even if they don't have any insurance or money - and the rest of us pay higher medical costs and insurance premiums as a result. The current system also raises overall costs by denying people access to preventative medical care because of how it's delivered. Obamacare will help fix those problems.

Another aspect of the issue is having everyone in the system, which lowers overall premiums. Much like state required auto insurance programs (which have been in place for decades with little or no clamor from conservatives about how bad they are) forcing everyone into the system reduces overall premiums because it spreads the risk over a much larger group.

While I think the law could have been better, the flaws can be fixed legislatively in the future - but at least it's a start on addressing a serious problem that causes medical expense to be a major contributing factor in at least half of all bankruptcies in this country - often when the people actually had insurance, but the medical expense was excluded or denied by the insurance company for some reason. No other industrialized nation has that kind of statistic - and this law takes steps to help fix that problem.

The reality is that this is a complex problem and far from the "black and white" issue it's often portrayed as. As I repeatedly say "Nothing is as simplistic as those who want to manipulate you would like you to believe".

Crush, you've been crushed. You're delusional if you don't realize that you are already paying for your neighbor's health insurance. If he/she does not have insurance and goes the hospital your rates, my rates, and tax-backed subsidies are paying for his/her treatment.

You can troll your Libertarian values all you want but the U.S> has the highest health insurance rates per person IN THE WORLD - by almost DOUBLE. That's what your free-market crap gets us!

Children "generations from now" will still be thanking Obama? Boy have YOU been duped! Lol! He's a one term president who hasn't done much of anything (and very little that he promised). He'll be remembered as "the first black president" and that's about it.

@IdahoSteve, I don't agree. We have been there. We were self employed and could not afford health care insurance and could not get Medicaid. For 15 years we had no coverage. We are no longer self employed and have health care through our employers. I am willing to help people to get insurance. Hopefully you will never be there.

Anyone who is in agreement with this decision must have their heads in the sand. Whenever the government gives you something, the more CONTROL they have over you. This program does not work in Europe, England, Canada, and will not work here. The government will decide what proceedures you can have, when and if you can have them, and how long it will take you to see a doctor. It will also increase our taxes with the largest increase we have ever seen and bring this nation closer to a socialistic nation. (Which, by the way is what this president is working to do). Did you ever ask why our president and Congress, along with their families are exempt from this program??? If that doesn't tell you something, nothing will.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!

What really bring me pain is that ,people that are oppossing the President is willing to let other human beings die from lack of resources. The bible reminds us time after time the necessity in caring for the poor,this mandate was handed down over 2000 yrs. ago to "FEED MY SHEEP", you can't run nor hide from it ,for this is a commandment of JESUS THE CHRIST. Good for you Mr. Obama for being obedient to the will of ALMIGHTY GOD THRU CHRIST. I will continue to pray for you and your family, and all those who oppose you that they may find peace an may God free them from the corrupt thinking . God is with you ,may he continue to bless and keep you......OBAMA2012

I would NOT bring our Lord Jesus into this issue Demetrius. He says DO NOT KILL. This program funds abortion to the max and life begins at conception.

Actually, the health insurance programs they have in Canada, England, and many other industrialized countries work really well. How effective our new law will be remains to be seen. But, at this moment, our country is the only industrialized country in the world where its citizens can go into financial ruin due to health problems. I say give the new law a chance.

There are a number of good provisions in the new law. Everyone will finally be paying for their own health care. Previously, people would do things like not buy health insurance because they thought they didn't need it. But, everyone eventually needs health care. The people who didn't buy health insurance were freeloading off the ones who did. With the new law if you don't buy insurance, fine. Then, pay the tax penalty to the IRS (aka the "free-loader" tax) so the rest of us won't have to pay for your health care.

Lol, what crazy.

Just so it is understood. Obama is extremely far from being a socialist. How do I know this, you ask. Because not only do I fully believe in socialism (if you don't, check out and see how wonderful socialism has been for the two longest lasting socialistic nations in the world. Switzerland and Sweden.) but I am also a Marxist. No, I do not believe in the Communism created and endorsed by China and Russia. But Obama is just a President who is trying with the best options he has available to fix the crappy situation this country is in right now. Unfortunately, Capitalists such as Obama, Conservatives, Liberals and any other Capitalists that are in power in this nation seem to think that money is the fix all. So, Conservatives think that if we fire more people and hoard money things will get better. On the other hand most Liberals believe that if we funnel more money into the system that will fix our issues. NEITHER WAY WILL FIX THESE PROBLEMS THAT WE ARE FACING. But if we were smart enough to think this all through carefully, read the Karl Marx Communist Manifesto we would all come to realize that money is not the fix. It is mostly the problem. Our perception of money is the biggest issue at this point. So many people in this discussion are complaining that this is a bad decision because it costs money. But so does uninsured individuals going to the emergency room in droves. Please, try to be understanding. Not everyone can afford insurance in this expensive Capitalistic Nation. Obama tried to make it more affordable. But whatever that paperwork says when it comes out of Congress and the Senate is the work of Congress and the Senate. So, from an actual Socialist/Marxist the best way to fix the issues in this nation is not through hoarding or spending money. It will be through changing our perception of money and moving ourselves into a socialistic or marxist mindset and caring more about helping all Americans and not just ourselves.

Don't thank the president. All he did was pave the way for the government to grab and control more of our money. You can thank all of the people who will be paying for this. It is easy to spend someone elses money and the government excels at it. You are a fool if you think otherwise.

Wingnut, when the zygote formed at conception can be removed from a body and stay "alive" then some of us will believe that life begins at conception. Since I do not care how you live your life, live it as you see fit and let the rest of us live our lives without your interference. No one is forcing you or yours to get an abortion so you and yours do not have the right to say that others cannot have an abortion. You do not have the right to interfer in what is a privacy issue.

One question for you, where is your outrage when a child is found in the dumpster or do you just care about the unborn?

Susie, Human life establishes it's own existence. Opinion on when existence begins is arbitrary. Taking away the right for a human to exist based on an arbitrary opinion that it's existence is less than human is tyranny.

Daveyob, I agree with you about human life establishing it own existence, but I do not believe that termination of a pregnancy is an arbitrary opinion and is tyranny. Temination of a pregnancy is no ones business but that of the parties involved. You can have your opinion and I can respect that; all I ask is that you respect the opinion of those whose opinion differ from yours.

And I still ask, where is the outrage when a child is found in a dumpster?

You are right. Ending a pregnancy is not an arbitray opinion. It is in an action that takes away the absolute right for a life to express and defend its human existence. Whether done in private or on the world stage it is tyranny. I respect human existence. Human existence is not an opinion.

If a fetus is a life, then why don't they have funerals for them? Can you go and visit the grave of an aborted fetus? Many complications can occur that lead to rejection and even in the course of the woman's menstrual cycle, fertilised eggs are sometimes ejected from the body...will we be investigating every period to see if the woman is a murderer? No, we won't, because the majority of us have a brain and know that a fertilised egg is not a sentient being and cannot assume the same rights as such.

Does our reaction to the end of someones existence define that existence? Isn't that arbitrary. Your opinion about the fertilized egg as not being a sentient being is an arbitrary one. Does your superior brain tell you that your arbitrary opinion on human existence defines human existence? Whose arbitrary opinion defined your existence? When did you become human?

No Tom. There's no requirement that you buy anything. You can just go ahead and pay the tax. Then when you get sick or injured, the rest of us will see that you don't die on the spot whether you care about yourself or not.

So Joe, what's next a tax if you don't buy a GM vehicle?

Partisanship is totally blind. The GOP - the party of personal responsibility - can't stomach a law that requires everyone who can pay for insurance to purchase it??? I suppose they would rather let americans continue to visit emergency rooms and let the tax payers in general pay for their treatment. I had a wealthy republican get drunk and run into my vehicle - guess what - no insurance. After my insurance company took him to the cleaners - I bet he finally figured out how irresponsible he was. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of people out there, crying about how terrible it is to require everyone to be personally responsible for their health care.

Isn't funny this guy Joe Heffel responding in favor to the mandated health care to Tom's comment:

"There's no requirement that you buy anything. You can just go ahead and pay the tax"....

Joe, you don't get it It is mandated. One way or another you pay, and what is worth if you don't pay the taxes on this, you could go to jail, because you can not mess with the government when money matters. But that is ok because in jail no one will see you die because your health will be care for, you would only get raped, I guess that is ok for you? Perhaps you should see the consequences to this law a lot deeper?

Agreed, I'm neither democrat or republican, so my opinion is not biased.

I see this as a violation of my freewill. Up until now, government intervention has always been a matter of choice in life style.

If someone "needs" help, then measures should have been made to do so. Their needs does not constitute my involvement.

So now the government leaves us to the good will of lawyers and politicians that want to prohbite certain life styles find a way to force changes in our lives.

But you won't complain when the government uses your taxes to build a $35 million war plane, right?

More Taxes, ugh!

People have no free will when it comes to Medicare. When they turn 65 they must sign up for Medicare or face a penalty every year until the do sign up. For the last 47 years we have had Medicare which is a form of socialized medicine.

Why should we have to pay when a dead beat get injured or sick who don't want to buy insurance that where the tax part comes in everyone in , save money

You already are. Those people don't have insurance now. Who do you think flips the bill when they show up to the ER with no insurance and no money? You. They should be forced to buy insurance.

Yeah johnbo, all those lazy infants and toddlers, the long term unemployed and their families, people who work flipping your burgers, washing your car, picking your melons and lettuce... all those lazy people.

johnbo31 ... When you say something as ignorant as "illeagles afraid to go to work," it makes it obvious that you really, really don't have a clue. Those illegals, which I correctly spelled, are the hardest working SOBs you'll ever meet.

If this helps get more people covered by some kind of insurance then YEAH! All the uninsured are showing up at the ER's everyday. It makes it impossible to even be able to get into the ER when there is an emergent issue. When uninsured people have no doctor to go to for simple issues, they are forced to go to the ER's. The ER's are forced to see them for their everyday ailments. The hospitals are forced to skyrocket the cost heath care at the hospitals to cover all these uninsured people who come there for healthcare. Something had to be done. Maybe this is not perfect, but it's definitely a start. Now they need to set some standards about how much the hospitals and doctors can charge people! It's unbelievable the difference in price between what a self pay person pays for the same procedure as an insured person pays. The insurance company's do not pay the normal price that they charge people who are self pay. Medicaid doesn't even pay a fourth of what the charges are. It is already a fact that people on Medicaid do not receive the same type of care as people who are insured do, but there is no other option. I understand that people in Canada face the same kind of issues with their universal health care coverage. A lot of them opt to travel to the U.S. to have on demand health care. There is no perfect answer yet, but at least this will help more people to be able to have a doctor of their own to go to. Not everyone is sitting on welfare and exploiting the system, there are those people who just don't make very much money at their jobs and don't have means to do better. There are jobs that pay very little and are menial. Someone has to do them. It is those people who have no health insurance. It is those people who are going to now be able to have a doctor.

Yes, it was those welfare queens who draw a little over 3 billion dollars in care that cost us 1.5 trillion a year in deficits. Not the wars, the pharmacy package, the bush expansion of government. Not the interest on our debt. Not the 800 billion in bailouts for Wall Street. It's those darn welfare queens, they are what really ruined America - yeah, keep telling yourself that - so you don't have to admit what a tremendous @%^(_@()$ you voted for from 2000 to 2008.

As for those welfare queens - having worked in the inner city - I found that the welfare queens got their $320 check from the government, paid their 300 rent, went to the food pantry for their food, the local electric emergency aid for utilities, and when they really tried to get a job - no one would hire them more than 30 hours a week -because no one wanted to pay their health care. Yes, those welfare queens are living high on your dollar - using their oven to heat their home in the winter and getting a fan from a local mission to cool themselves in the summer. Woo hoo - don't you wish you could live like that!!!! Welfare money - basically keeps welfare queens trapped in a miserable existence - while the slumlords and businesses in the inner city are the ones who take all the money.

where u going john boy

You're leaving the country over this? Good riddance! Just keep one thing in mind before you leave: You won't find one First World nation on the planet that doesn't provide universal health coverage for its citizens.

Well said Anne! I don't think some people get that they are already paying for these people even without the law. Anyone can walk into an emergency room and get care. Problem is, that's the most expensive! Also, the law allows people to get insurance who have pre-existing conditions. I have lupus and have been denied by every insurance company out there. I've been paying out of pocket since I was laid off and my COBRA ran out. Not every non insured person is sitting at home and living off the government.

I agree you have said it well, Anne...and Stacey. We are already footing the bill for those uninsured individuals....better they have a penalty to pay which will help off-set the cost of providing them a stipend to afford insurance or help off-set medicare than have it come out of our pockets.

Being a 2 time cancer survivor, I can't even get life insurance....but now I can not be denied health insurance...and as a woman I will not be paying higher premiums. And my daughter who just graduated from college will have coverage until she is settled with a new job.....

And seniors will now get all of the preventative screenings they so richly deserve...at no cost to them. Seniors "did without" before. Now they can rest assured they are protected.

As to the doomsayers....just wait, you will see.

I don't agree with the bill, but I understand it. I don't have medical insurance on my self because as you said Stacey, I too have an on going medical problem where every insurance company turned me down. I can't even afford to get insurance on what money I make in a month. Even though I am a Veteran and receive a disability check each month and SSI, I could not go without a home, transportation electric, water and phone. I don't make enough money to pay all my bills, LET ALONE ANOTHER TAX.

I'm glad this passed. I think personally it's ridiculous that people like my own fiance' can't get health insurance because of preexisting conditions. I could understand if it was like liver disease from heavy drinking but genetic problems like type 1 diabetes (not from obesity) from the age of 2 shouldn't be held accountable for that. This is a step in the right direction.

Very sick in Florida....you state that you are a veteran, how long was your service? Did you retire after 20 years or leave the service after your 4 or 8 year tour of duty. If you retired after 20 years you should have Tricare insurance at no cost to you. If you don't you should look into this. And this ACA should benefit you since insurance companes can no longer deny you coverage for pre-existing conditions

...Good doctors will leave...

And where would they go? Every other developed nation on Earth already has universal healthcare.

And they are all broke! All this bill does is force more Americans onto the government teet. Obana wants the people to be at the mercy of the government versus a government for the people and by the people. The welfare state is now the welfare country. Personal responsibility had been thrown away.

WTC Rescuer, we appreciate the good work you've done but this does not make you an expert on health care legislation. As so many have reminded us, we are already paying for the healthcare of the uninsured. This legislation just reorganizes it.

Your "free market" has led to U.S. insurance rates per insured to be almost double the next-highest country and our mortality/morbidity rates are below average in the industrialized world.

My favorite comment is the guy who swore he'd move to Canada - so he can have his universal health care there instead of here. What a dolt.

I could not have said it better! 2000 pages of a bill few if any read start to finish before it was voted on (zero transparency here) before it was passed into law (or coerced into signing if the lawmakers wished to spend Christmas at home...).

I am against this bill because A) it was not read before it was passed and B) I hear zero about efforts to eliminate the hundreds of million$s of waste President Obama spoke of during his campaign and C) penality or tax...who cares the outcome is the same and D) creates just another peephole in private lives a government agency (IRS in this case) can watch American citizens through and E) continues to provide U.S. Citizen funds for health/welfare of illegals in our Country and F) I feel it was shoved down thru the system - all 2000 pages of it....

You went from Obamacare to 9/11 in two short sentences? LMAO

You really need to see a shrink, dude...

God, I hope so! It would be awesome to see a video of a police baton cracking a riotous Tea Bagger's skull on the front page news. Yow!

I doubt that you would be able to tell us what socialism is, and if this nation were a dictatorship, how in the hell would you be able to "change the course" by VOTING in November? LOL

Can someone explain to me the difference in making people buy car insurance and making people buy health insurance. They are both there to protect other participants in the case of an accident or needed coverage. Yes driving is a privilege and if you don't want to drive then you don't have to buy insurance. Well if you don't want to use the emergency room or pay for doctors care when you get sick then you don't have to. But don't force others to pay for you if you decide you want that privilege of going to the hospital. I don't like portions of Obamacare, the way it is written, however, it is a step in fixing the problems. Lot of criticism in this conversation but not one answer to what would be better or what else can be done to fix existing problems

While I am pro healthcare reform, your argument is a bad one. Everybody is not mandated to buy auto insurance. You only have to have it if you drive a car. On the other hand, every one will need healthcare at some point, which is why they can mandate it to all. What I don't get is people complain about having to pay for other people's insurance through taxes with the reform when they already pay for the uninsured showing up to the ER for healthcare. This law just forces us all to be on a level field. If you can afford insurance, you have to get it and stop using the tax payers dollar for emergency visits.

Dixie Democrat, I am not sure where you live in Dixie. I reside in NC. The unemployment rate is the 4 highest in the nation. I live the facts every day. Maybe you should take you head out of the sand!!!!!!!!!!

You like this crap so much, you can pay my share!!!

...and most of those countries are nearly bankrupt. Socialism doesn't work for America. Communism doesn't work for America. Dictatorship doesn't work for America. We are a Democracy with a Government For the People and By the People. We've lost sight of that and the current Administration is taking us further and further away from this Democracy. Wholesale change is needed from Top to Bottom. Time for another change.....Obama didn't work!!

"Obama didn't work" ... talk to the extremists republicans about that. Every action they have taken has been to make sure President Obama failed. They are responsible for the downgrade in our nations' credit rating last summer. They are responsible for the failure to get a jobs act through Congress. They are responsible for treasonist behavior by signing the Norquist pledge not to raise taxes, when the facts and the experts told us we needed BOTH CUTS AND TAX INCREASES to save this economy. While I personally do not believe the Affordable Care Act is acceptable in its present form, it is a good start, and if Congress would stop filibustering every single thing brought to them and work on solving our nations problems, we would be able to come together and fix the problems in it. Congress has been a total failure, and it is Congress who has the responsibility to pass laws that address our crisis. Our President can only recommend to Congress, and he has done plenty of that. Lay the responsibility where it belongs! No, he has not achieved his goal of transforming Washington into a team that compromises and works together. Why? Again, Congress has seen to that. He has compromised too much for too long. It is clear the lines have been drawn in the sand, and unfortunately, unless we give President Obama a fully Democratic Congress, we are in big trouble. Everything has been politicized in Washington, and this Nation is at war with itself. Romney is a joke, and even the Republican Party knows this. But I've read many bloggers comments that they would vote for Mickey Mouse before they would vote for Obama. Now that's intelligent thinking, huh? The division of this country lays squarely at the feet of the Extremist Wing of Conservatives, fueled by the bigotry and hatred fed to them by Fox News. They believe all that stuff as fact! I don't think the low information public that depends on Fox for "news" has ever fact checked anything they hear. You can tell in all these blogs who depends on Fox for their news...they all use the same phrases, and repeat each other endlessly. It's not funny, it's SAD!!!!!!

carolyn-727984 - Obama DIDN'T work. Do not blame the Republicans for all of this mess. He had control of both the House and Senate and still didn't accomplish anything. When the educated masses saw this, some changes were made. I will concede the point that the Republicans have been stubborn, but the middle ground is to far off for both sides to see. Democrats cannot continue to spend, spend, spend on all of the social programs without jepordaizing the continuing erosion of the US economy. The Government cannot "create" jobs....unless you are talking more IRS workers to collect all of the new taxes that will be required to pay for these programs. The simple truth is that it is the private sector that fuels the economy and when you continue to burden them with more and more "reforms"....well...that system stops working. They stop hiring. And on another point, any form of media you receive your news from is slanted one way or the other. ABC, CBS, NBC, PPS all slant tremendously to the extreme left. Fox to the extreme right. There is no "fair and balanced" reporting for the most part. The talking heads are just that...talking heads. They never listen...just talk...or should I say they just read from the teleprompter. All joking aside, the blame game can be played all day long and there is no winner...but we are all losers at the end of the day. Romney is getting my vote as I do not care for the policies of Obama, but I feel more confident that Romney will get us more to center than anything. He won't make the extreme right or left happy, but he'll also won't be so polarizing as Obama.

GoVols:

If you really believed in democracy, and if you really believed in the American system on the whole, you wouldn't be frothing at the mouth over a democratically elected president, who with the support of the majority of the citizens, instituted a health care reform law, which was then upheld by the Supreme Court. Rather, you would accept the fact that you are on the losing side of the democratic process here. I wonder, do you really believe in the American way or something else masquerading as it?

A little more socialism in this country would be preferable to getting raped by the Republicans.

Hd, socialism will hit just about the time everybody goes bankrupt.

If you don't believe in Socialism, please pay us back for the twelve years of public schooling that you received, plus interest.

Unfortunately, in 5 years, those paying 60% of income tax will be the minority working class citizens, while the rest of unproductive Americans (and illegals) will continue to leach off the working class. It's a very sad day in America. One more freedom is lost, one more unconstitutional law is passed by King Obama, and the American sheeple are too stupid to realize it. You think healthcare is expensive now? What till it's "Free". It's pretty scary when you hear citizens from other countries trying to tell us that socialism doesn't work. I guess we will have to find that out for ourselves.

@msfreedomwatch:

Maybe more people would be working if people like you were to pay them a living wage with health insurance benefits instead of hiring their kids for minimum wage, part-time only, without any benefits.

Oh, and statistically, the vast majority of poor people in America are employed and work very hard. They need food stamps and other State benefits because, again, people like you will not pay them jack @!$%# for their labor.

Why don't you move to somalia ??? the government there is inexistant and we see how well that work

YOU NEED LESS MILITARY but not less government !

If you want a better life, only the government can make this happen !!

Barock1957, please save yourself! MOVE! Far far far away. Like to China. If you can not respect the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, our personal freedoms and rights as a US citizen, please find yourself in another country far away that is controlled by the government. This is a free country...as of now....so please move.

"If you want a better life, only the government can make this happen !! "

Government can't even come up with a balanced budget. And you want them to control your life?

Any one event cannot be termed to be utilitarian without all of history as a comparison, outside goes up and down in tandem with the collective psyche, but a system at any moment in time can be deemed utilitarian, this means being who you are and not being affected by the outside or ego, then the utilitarian manifests.

But yes, if you have a choice, you want a system with more choice. any eventuality is the utilitarian correspondence and cannot be determined to be utilitarian fromva choice perspective unless you know the totality of history... But from a choice of a system at any given moment in time, the tea party conservative constitutional way is the more truth based one from the totality from the moment, this seems to go against this reality for the future, but moments in time are subject to fluctuation from individual psyches, so it's anybodies guess where this leads in the end.

As a snapshot, I guess it could suggests to someone of a speculative future that is anti utilitarian, but this is not a certain future.

barock1957...I'm just glad this country has given you the freedom to speak your mind. This is a country divided. I, for one, cannot see any value with this current Administration. One thing people fail to realize is the true costs this Health Care law will affect the American people. Companies are not hiring because the added costs per employee due to this bill prevents them from affording it. My company's insurance rates have gone up this year and when the full extent of the Health Care law goes into effect, our costs are expected to go up 20% or more...and my coverage will be actually be less. What you fail to realize is that more government intervention leads to less private sector help. The "Government" cannot create jobs...the private sector does.

Bad data. People don't lose their houses due to health care costs. They lose them because they bit off more house than they can afford. There is such a thing as catastrophic health care insurance. The rate is very inexpensive. If you can afford a big house, you can afford the coverage.

Healthcare costs have been rising 10-15% per year for the last 5 years, long before Obamacare was even voted on. So you can blame health care cost rise on the profiteering insurance monopolies, but not Obamacare.

"Businesses not hiring because of Obamacare". Please, what a load. Business is not hiring because of a lack of demand because the middle class is struggling, because the bankers destroyed the economy by playing casino with people's mortgages. Obamacare has nothing to do with it, but hey, you keep believing in fairy tales.