219

The US House Of Representatives just passed the healthcare reconciliation bill, with 219 members in favor- 3 greater than the 216 required.

The Republican Party failed. Individual Democratic House/Senate members will lose seats in the midterms, but this is a permanent, all-but-mortal wound to the reactionaries who have been trying to end the New Deal.

The defenses have been breached. The Teflon is toast. The US, in whatever way the future works out, will now treat healthcare as a public good, and national security issue. The insurance companies, drug companies, hospitals, and doctors now know that their number is up. Since the healthcare system was going to fail anyway, it's replacement will be a federal system of stupidity, not the patchwork of stupidity.

It's easier to fix, that way.

Obama is now all-but-assured of re-election in 2012. Everyone knows this.

John Boehner will not look well in political history.

Note: the earlier version of this post reported the initial tally of 224.