The Bottom Line

(Via Matt Yglesias; ) The health reform campaign jumped through one of its last (and scariest) hoops in the wee hours last night, about 1 AM Eastern time. A final vote is expected Christmas eve, which seems both ironic and apropos. While I have been frustrated, exasperated and, yes, angry about all of the shenanigans, and while I'm still angry that our legislative bodies (with their zircon-encrusted health plans) couldn't do better, this is an improvement on the status quo.

I'm more sympathetic than I'd like to be with the "Kill Billers," but we have been focused on this stupid thing now for about six months. There are other issues that are just as important simmering on the back burner. Killing it would almost certainly mean more of the steadily-deteriorating status quo for a decade or two.

You can't always get what you want; there will still be a significant number of unnecessary premature deaths, illnesses and medically-induced bankruptcies. And lord knows I'm not pleased with that. However, more often than is true now, sometimes people will get what they need.

Pass the bill. Contentment is not about getting what you want, it's about understanding what you have.