Justin Fung a.k.a. gershom's journal

More on the health care bill

First, this morning, President Obama signed the health care bill into law. Here's the video of his pre-signing address:

And on to the links and information. I've been saturating Facebook with links because there's a lot to know and get informed on--anything as substantial as health care reform is going to be complicated. Here's a mini-compendium of links from the last day or so:

• The White House lays out "What's in the Health Care Bill?"
• The Washington Post looks behind the scenes at "How Obama revived his health-care bill."
• Ezra Klein gets Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt's thoughts. (I actually quoted Reinhardt in a paper I wrote at Fuller a year ago, entitled "Initiating a Christian Conversation About Health Care Reform." I may put it up for download--for posterity's sake--soon.)
• From MoveOn: "10 Things Every American Should Know About Health Care Reform."
• Analysis from the ever-reliable Nate Silver.
• Thoughts from a Christian leader and thinker, Gordon MacDonald: "Jesus and the Health Care Bill."
• And a note left by Patrick Kennedy at his late father Ted's gravesite: "Dad, the unfinished business is done."

We'll finish with a couple quotes. First, from James Fallows, writing in The Atlantic:

For now, the significance of the vote is moving the United States FROM a system in which people can assume they will have health coverage IF they are old enough (Medicare), poor enough (Medicaid), fortunate enough (working for an employer that offers coverage, or able themselves to bear expenses), or in some other way specially positioned (veterans; elected officials)... TOWARD a system in which people can assume they will have health-care coverage. Period.

And second, thanks from President Obama to all of you--to all of us--who kept the faith:

It is because of you that we did not quit.  It’s because of you that Congress did not quit.  It’s because of you that I did not quit.  It’s because of you.