The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Health Care Overhaul Becomes the Law of the Land; In the Process, Pushing Back at Inequality,” is a news analysis on the broader themes of healthcare legislation. It looks at the bill’s attack on ecomomic inequality and compares it to the trends since Ronald Reagan took power, that is increasing inequality between the rich and the poor.

The article notes that since the 1970′s, the tax rates of the rich have plumetted while their incomes have grown significantly more than anyone else. The healthcare bill, officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, works in the opposite direction. It assists families with incomes under $88,000 to buy insurance while drawing a large part of its funding from those earning $250,000 a year or more.

In doing so, the article notes, this bill has officially signified the end of the “age of Reagan.” That is a good thing, in my opinion, because the United States is not about a class-based society, and it has always been best for our self-image when a rising tide lifts all boats, not leaving major groups of people behind.

Of course, much of the above observations are symbolic. There will be no sudden wrenching of our society, and the sky will not fall as some Republicans would have us believe. This healthcare legislation is more about hope than anything else and a vision for the future.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Congress Sends White House Landmark Health Overhaul,” describes, with banner headlines, the victory for the Democrats in the House of Representatives last night.

The riveting proceedings, and the final vote, fell into place after Bart Stupak, and his newly empowered pro-life wing of the Democratic Party, agreed to support the legislation thanks to a promise by President Obama to issue an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment, that no taxpayer funds would be used for abortions.

Though this blog has adopted a somewhat neutral stance since its inception, I must applaud the Democrats, and especially Nancy Pelosi and President Obama, for their perseverance and determination to see through this fight to its conclusion.

The Republicans, though understandably differing on the role of government, have not conducted themselves in an honorable mannner, and their continuing threats reflect poorly on their Party. Their alliance with the Tea Party and some of its tactics are even worse.

Nancy Pelosi, though not a sparkling speaker, is a superb Speaker. Her handling of the House Democratic Caucus showed finesse, understanding and an ability to work with people to address their heart-felt concerns.

Her march with fellow Democrats to the Capitol yesterday afternoon went beyond political theater to show a common purpose and defiance of the thuggery of the demonstrators attempting to stand in her way.

Kudos to Pelosi Power and God Bless America.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Democrats Woo Foes of Abortion for Health Vote,” describes the continuing wrangling to secure 216 votes in the House of Representatives to finally pass President Obama’s national healthcare legislation.

And if they suceed, it will be exactly that, President Obama’s victory. For even though he only gave guidance to the House and Senate during the legislative drafting process, it has only been through his perseverance that we have reached this stage.

Our representatives were giving up healthcare for dead after the election of Scott Brown as Senator in Massachusetts, and the loss of the Democratic supermajority in the Senate.

But through a clever series of events and timing, the President nursed the healthcare debate back to life, cleverly playing off Republican intransigeance during his summit at the White House, and then using that summit as a springboard to the current final push.

The article in the Times lists additional “yes” votes and even notes the possible placation of Bart Stupak and other conservative Democrats to go over the top. But for those who doubt the final result, you must remember that Nancy Pelosi, one of the strongest and most talented Speakers of the House in recent memory, almost always succeeds.

We can only pray she does so on Sunday, too.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Democrats Gain with a Promise on Health Costs,” describes the continuing momentum in favor of national healthcare passage. With 72 hours to go before a crucial House vote, the Congressional Budget Office offered its non-partisan analysis of the bill — it will reduce the deficit by $138 billion over the next decade.

Another development described in the article was President Obama’s decision to postpone a trip to Asia in order to shepherd the healthcare legislation through to completion. This, too, represented a wise decision given the importance of the bill to the future of his Presidency.

Republicans, of course, are continuing their obstructionist ways, and, at this point, noone really cares about them any more. They had a chance to participate constructively in this historic legislation and chose not to do so for political reasons.

And, in my opinion, the fact that they made the choice for politics, instead of what’s right and wrong for 30 million uninsured Americans, will catch up to them, sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, with a vote planned for Sunday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is working furiously to lock up the needed votes. She will get them because of her perseverance and very talented handling of the Democratic caucus. And the American people will benefit as a result.

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Showdown Near, Health Overhaul Gains Two Votes,” describes new progress by Democratic leaders in obtaining support for national healthcare legislation.

Dennis Kucinich, a longtime liberal holdout, is now supporting the bill despite prior reservations that it didn’t go far enough. Mr. Kucinich, who favors a single payer government plan, will give cover to any liberals in the House with similar reservations.

Even more encouraging, Dale Kildee of Michigan, part of the former Stupak bloc with concerns about abortion language in the bill, now supports the legislation after careful review of the wording. He believes the legislation upholds the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal taxpayer funds to support abortion.

In addition, a new major group of nuns also announced support for the legislation for similar reasons.

This is all very encouraging. Following the twists and turns of the healthcare debate over the past year has been an anxiety-producing exercise, especially for a proponent rooting for its progress. The ability of Democrats to put aside their differences and work together for a common cause has been in doubt almost since the start.

Now, however, with the final denouement approaching, there is reason for hope. Still hope, not a certainty, but it’s better than the day after Scott Brown’s election when the enterprise was given up for dead.

The lead article in today’s New York Times is titled, “Obama to Seek Federal Power Over Insurers.” It describes a new item included in a comprehensive health plan from the White House regarding the power to regulate rate increases by healthcare insurers.

The proposal comes in advance of the healthcare summit at the White House on Thursday and, according to the article, makes it difficult for the Republicans to oppose without revealing corporate support for healthcare providers over the general public.

Obama’s panel would be called the Health Insurance Rate Authority and would include participants in a variety of industries including insurance executives, medical groups, economic experts, etc.

Meanwhile, other developments in the healthcare debate include a petition started by liberals in the Senate to reintroduce a public option into any new legislation. Senate Majority Leader and President Obama have sidestepped the issue, waiting to see how many Senators sign the document.

Another possiblity on the horizon remains the use of reconciliation to pass major elements of healthcare legislation. This may become even more likely if Republicans seem recalcitrant or posturing during the healthcare summit.

In my opinion, President Obama is going to come through this with flying colors. He’s had a bad freshman year, but one thing different about President Obama compared to President Bush — he learns from his mistakes. 

Based on his approach with the summit, I think President Obama will stick with this and that something major will pass and be signed into law.

The lead story in today’s New York Times is titled, “President Plans a Joint Summit on Health Care.” It describes a bipartisan meeting the President is planning for February 25, a televised event designed to allow Republicans to present their ideas and join Democrats at the bargaining table.

The event is designed to meet Republican demands for their participation in a transparent process televised on C-Span. It was announced by President Obama in an interview during the Super Bowl and builds upon his successful meeting with Republicans at the end of January.

The Republican reaction, as might be expected, was lukewarm, and they called upon President Obama to start the process again from the beginning, throwing away months of negotiations, a demand they know he will refuse to meet. Whether they use this demand to refuse participation in the summit at all remains to be seen.

Whether this meeting will result in any real progress remains to be seen, and many think it is being used as a ploy to force the Republicans to take a stand on specific issues rather than just saying no. It may even be a precursor to a more radical attempt to use reconciliation to patch up the differences between the House and Senate legislation.

The lead article in today’s New York Times is titled, “Obama Weighs a Paring of Goals for a Health Bill.” It describes the new reality on Capitol Hill after the election of Scott Brown as the new Senator for Massachusetts.

Democrats still seemed stunned by the result and are already trying to pivot to address jobs and the economy. While the Obama administration is still holding out hope for a comprehensive bill, it now seems dead in the water.

What a waste. A full year of national attention and work by legislators all for naught. To me the most important part always was expanding coverage to 30 million people without healthcare, people who are dying every day as a result. What have we become in this nation to be so heartless about their predicament? (Republicans, this question is addressed to you).

There is still discussion about using reconciliation, so we only need 50 votes instead of a supermajority, but items for reconciliation must be directly related to the budget. And the Senators all seem more worried about keeping their jobs at this point instead of following through on healthcare.

I am depressed about the whole thing. So much hard work. So many hard fought victories, and to have it end like this. Maybe, the next few days will allow our legislators to coalesce around some sort of solution, but I’m not holding my breath.

The lead article in today’s New York Times is titled, “G.O.P. Surges to Senate Victory in Massachusetts.” It describes the surprising win of the U.S. Senate race there by Scott Brown, previously a little-known Republican State Senator.

The race is being analyzed ad nauseum on the cable networks, so before I subscribe to any viewpoint, let me remind the readers that a day is like a year in politics. The 2010 elections are still many months away, and the Democrats have a chance, albeit diminishing, to strike back.

What to do? Well, I support the idea currently being promoted by Chris Matthews on Hardball. Let the House pass the Senate bill with the promise to include the results of any negotiation through reconciliation in the spring.

This two-step process is the only way the Democrats will get the majority of what they want, and it will at least provide them with something to run on in November. The alternative: to say, well, we tried to get a health bill passed but we were the victim of unfortunate circumstances.

So let the Republicans hoop and holler for a few days with their spin about Democratic arrogance. Then, get the real results for the American people and run on it.

Today’s article in The New York Times is titled, “No Big Cost Rise in U.S. Premiums is Seen in Study.” It describes the latest analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan organization, on the effects of the Democrats’ health insurance legislation on the cost of premiums.

The analysis stated that the legislation could significantly reduce the cost of premiums for many people while leaving others relatively unaffected. It represents a major victory for supporters of President Obama’s effort to enact national health insurance.

The report reassured centrist Democratic Senators such as Evan Bayh who had been beset by a Republican misinformation campaign on the effects of the legislation. Not surprisingly, Republicans such as Mitch McConnell and Charles Grassley tried to cherry pick items from the report to justify their continuing opposition.

Meanwhile, according to the article, the White House is now reaching out to moderate Republicans such as Senator Sue Collins, who met with the director of the White House Office of Health Reform, Nancy-Ann DeParle, for 45 minutes yesterday.

The Democrats are finally being rewarded for their persistent efforts on behalf of the American people while the Republicans are being exposed for their obstructionist tactics. Even when the C.B.O. comes out with a favorable report, the Republicans seem unable to acknowledge anything positive about the legislation.