Good News, Everyone!

So to my surprise, the US Supreme Court ruled that Obama's health care plan was constitutional.  Apparently, the US Constitution does allow for the government to look after its citizens; who knew?

While I'm not a big fan of Obamacare, my objections are that it doesn't go nearly far enough; I did, after all, grow up in the UK.  While the NHS may have its flaws, I'd always choose that system over the American one.

But we have to consider the context of contemporary American politics.  Sure, you might believe that Obama could have pushed for a better plan when everything was first proposed.  But now that we have this particular plan, it is better for it to be upheld than struck down.  There are two simple reasons.  First, this shows that healthcare reform can be done, and makes later reforms more likely.  Second, if the plan was struck down it would certainly lower Obama's chances of re-election.  I'm very much of the mind that the US system forces a vote for the lesser of two evils.

Finally, the most amusing thing in the whole mess are the conservatives who have reacted to the ruling by announcing they want to move to Canada.  Because that's the way to avoid social health care systems.