The End of the Beginning?

This weekend is bringing something of a tumultuous climax to the debate over health-care reform in the United States. As a final vote nears this afternoon in the House of Representatives to reconcile budgeting matters in the bill (this is not a vote to pass health-care reform itself; that was already done successfully three months ago), there have been some loud and bigoted statements made by the Tea Party cultists--sometimes, but not always, denounced by Republican officials, who have been stirring up anger for the last year and still cannot divorce themselves from the hateful results.

Meanwhile, James Fallows of The Atlantic Monthly explains the momentous nature of President Barack Obama’s legislation, which his predecessors have been talking about passing for more than a century. It’s certainly not perfect; much still needs to be done to complete the task of protecting Americans’ health. But as Fallows tells National Public Radio’s Guy Raz, “this actually is quite a consequential matter if it does pass, mainly because it’s a bill that establishes that American citizens should have medical coverage just by virtue of being here, not by being old or being poor or being veterans or working for a big company.”

Listen to more of Fallows’ comments here.

READ MORE: “What We Learned,” by Tom Schaller (FiveThirtyEight); “Groundhog Day for GOP on Health Care Reform,” by Joan Walsh (Salon).