Sunday night, the House of Representatives passed landmark legislation that moves us closer to reforming our health care system. Is it flawed? Yes. Does it go far enough? No. But if it passes, it will be a major accomplishment.

For the record, I favor single-payer health care (yes, a government-run or managed system like in EVERY OTHER industrialized nation in the world) and this bill comes nowhere close to it. No, wingnuts, it is NOT socialism. It does not even include a robust public option, which I believe is a necessary component for controlling costs of premiums and a requisite if we are going to impose a mandate. But the Health Care Bill does some very good things that meet progressive goals:

• Eliminates pre-existing conditions
• Prevents insurance companies from canceling policies if/when people get sick
• Eliminates lifetime and annual caps on coverage
• Provides small business tax credits
• Establishes minimum insurance standards and creates health insurance exchanges – competitive marketplaces where individuals and small business can buy insurance
• Provides tax credits and costâ€ï¿½sharing assistance to low and middle income Americans
• Invests substantially in Community Health Centers to expand access to health care in communities where it is needed most.

Here are two good, fairly brief summaries of what’s in the Bill. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/health-care_reform_is_progress.html

http://ushealthcrisis.com/2010/03/if-the-senate-bill-passes-heres-what-happens-immediately/

And the official summary from the House Ways and Means Committee (.PDF doc)
http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/SUMMARY.pdf

There are several heroes who have emerged from this battle and deserve our credit, our respect, and our thanks for making this happen. Here is my list of heroes.

Nancy Pelosi

First and foremost, the Speaker of the House, who is not incidentally the first female Speaker in history, has shown amazing leadership skills and political courage in steering this bill through the legislative process. Aside from President Obama, no one person had more to do with pushing for significant, comprehensive health care reform and getting it passed into law.

Politico’s Carrie Buddoff Brown & Glenn Thrush recently published an inside-Washington type story that outlines how Speaker Pelosi stood with the President and butted heads with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on approach to passing the bill. Pelosi refused to take an incremental approach in the wake of the loss of Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat to Scott Brown.

photo: MIKE THEILER / EPA / CORBIS

“I think [Pelosi] is the one who has kept the steel in the president’s back — and I think she represents that to Harry Reid, too,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Pelosi’s closest friend in Congress, told POLITICO.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34753.html#ixzz0ir6emaSj

The Wall Street Journal fleshes out Speaker Pelosi’s spine and strategic recommendations for the White House.

After the Massachusetts defeat, Ms. Pelosi, according to aides and other lawmakers, pushed back strongly against talk in the White House about moving to trim the bill or delay its passage. At one pivotal meeting on Feb. 5, both President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada suggested a go-slow approach that Ms. Pelosi aggressively resisted, according to senior Democrats.

Ms. Pelosi also advocated to the White House that Democrats should rally support within their own party and drop all pretense of trying to woo centrist Republicans.

"Without her, we wouldn't be here," said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who quickly added, "But that is also true of the president."
-from WSJ Vote Puts Pelosi's Political Skills to the Test

See also this NY Times article
Health Vote Caps a Journey Back From the Brink

Senator Harry Reid

Let’s face it: Senate Majority Leader Reid is not the most charismatic leader. His mild-mannered, soft-spoken approach makes him an odd choice for majority leader, much less Hero in this fight. However, Senator Reid has been a silent, but stalwart supporter of health care and refused to give up on the legislation. Even though he is facing an uncertain, difficult reelection battle in his home state of Nevada, Reid has been able to hold together a majority of Senators to support health care. Perhaps the most (or only) courageous thing Reid has done in this battle is to agree to pass the bill through Reconciliation (requiring only 51 votes, v 60) but he has kept the process marching forward.

Congressmen Anthony Weiner and Alan Grayson

Democratic Congressmen Weiner and Grayson have become darlings of the Left for their outspoken ballsy-ness and calling out Republicans for supporting/enabling the abuses and excesses of the insurance industry as well as straight-up challenging their colleagues on their lies and distortions.

For a sampling, see

or watch Weiner go up against Peggy Noonan on Morning Joe

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Also, can be found here at TPM with commentary

Apologies to readers for forcing you to watch Morning Joe and his blonde-nodding-head sidekick/set ornament.

Grayson became something of a cult hero with his remarks on the floor of the House, regarding the Republicans plan for health care. “Don’t get sick..if you do get sick..die quickly”

The New York Times called him “the Liberals’ Problem Child” and some suggest he’s a bit of a wingnut. Like Weiner, though, his straight-forward, combative style was a welcome sign to progressives that Democratic politicians would and could fight for their principles.

“A lot of people think a Democrat with guts is some kind of mythical creature like a unicorn, but it doesn’t need to be that way,” Mr. Grayson said in an interview to explain his approach.

Grayson has also been a strong and unyielding proponent of the public option. He introduced legislation, separate from the comprehensive health care bill, to introduce a Public Option into Medicare, that allows anyone to buy into the Medicare network. See Huffington Post: Grayson Pushes Public Option

While there has been a lot of noise around the health care debate and its politics, several members of the media have been beacons shedding light and providing thoughtful analysis to help clarify what’s at stake.

Rachel Maddow

Long-time and loyal readers will know that Rachel is one of my personal heroines and favorites. Her show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC provides smart and in-depth analysis of issues, not just the sexy or hot-button ones.

On health care, she has interviewed both Democratic and Republican politicians and politicos. She shows an amazing command of her facts, explains things clearly and tackles hard questions. Here is Rachel explaining the Timeline of how we might expect Health Reform to roll out.

Ezra Klein

One of the rising stars in the journalism sphere is Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein. He has been a great resource, with appearances on MSNBC and other cable news, and providing historical perspective and cogent real-time updates on what’s happening with Health Care.

See his Newsweek web article How Health Care Reform Reduces the Deficit in 5 Not-So-Easy Steps
and Blog posts Who Does Health Care Reform Help     and     Health Care and Freedom

Twitter & Twitter stars @Karoli and @Shoq

Twitter has become my go-to app for real-time updates and commentary on news, politics, and issues. Being on Twitter during the health care debate reminds me of the superbly fun Live Blogs we had here on OS way back when with Liz Emrich during the Debates and Election Season. It’s snarky but smart – mixing comments about hair and clothes with breaking news and reaction – at least the folks in my feed are.

One of the most outstanding voices in the health care debate and a real role model for Bloggers and Twitter users has been @Karoli. She has stayed on top of the Health Care Debate and provided useful explanations and breakdowns. I don’t care what anyone else claims, she’s the only one who I believe has actually read the bill and understood what’s in it.

You can find her blogging here http://www.drumsnwhistles.com/
And http://ushealthcrisis.com/author/admin/

@Shoq and his blog Shoq Value represent my thoughts and feelings on a great many things. While he sometimes comes across as a foaming, raging, angry liberal, his commentary is usually spot on. And at least, he is trying to do something about it.

Sample - @Shoq quoting Brandeis

“We can have a democratic society or we can have the concentration of great wealth in the hands of the few. We cannot have both.” ~ Justice Louis Brandeis (1939)

Honorable Mentions

There are many others who contributed to the crafting and successful passage of this historic legislation. I am sure I am leaving plenty of folks out, but there are a few more who deserve honorable mention status:

Congressman Chris Van Hollen – well, for one, he is MY Congressman, representing Maryland's district eight. But he’s also a smart, respectable pol and a good guy. Soft-spoken and a bit of a policy wonk, he stays  mostly out of the limelight, but serves as Assistant to Speaker Pelosi and chair of the DCCC. Van Hollen worked behind the scenes with members to whip votes, alongside Representatives Hoyer and Clyburn.

House GOP Leader John Boehner – Anti-hero, perhaps? But Boehner, with his overblown theatrics, spreading lies, and calls of Armageddon (not to mention his spray tan), made it clear to the Democrats that the Republicans weren’t going to engage in meaningful debate. I am convinced that that along with the hate-filled rantings of the Tea Partiers steeled the spine of Pelosi and the House Democrats to actually push this thing through.

Another own-goal assist goes to Blue Cross/Anthem Health Care and the Insurance Industry. Probably convinced health care reform was nowhere in sight, they took the opportunity to announce premium increases in the neighborhood of 35-40% on policy holders. This provided further evidence and support to the claims that the status quo was unacceptable and bolstered the President/CBO numbers for deficit reduction projections.

And finally, President Obama. He staked his Presidency on this one and while the White House made strategic and tactical errors along the way, he did not back down. Articles are starting to come out about the palace intrigue among President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. I’ll leave it to other pundits to dissect how much credit goes to whom, but will say one thing: I would not want to play poker with this man.