Obama pushes through healthcare reform

The US House of Representatives has narrowly approved the healthcare reform by 219 votes to 212. Despite previous setbacks this is a historical victory for President Barack Obama, writes the daily De Morgen: "The bitterness of the debate makes it likely that the matter won't rest at this: there will be lawsuits before the Supreme Court, and in every state where the Republicans have a majority ... they will try to boycott its introduction. But that comes later. Today what matters is that the US House of Representatives overcame a historic hurdle. One that not everyone however sees as such - there are still critics who say that it's 'not done' that the Democrats made a series of concessions. ... The criticism of Obama flaring up here and there that this was all too little is pretty incomprehensible because it ignores the reality of the situation. Those who see that this reform was adopted with a razor-thin majority and after a night full of emotion will hopefully understand that politics is also the art of the possible."

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