So this is how liberty dies...

"Only in Washington DC can you say that you're going to spend a trillion dollars and save the taxpayers money." - Representative from Indiana

Today I watched the House of Representatives debate the healthcare bill. I'm firmly against it; I see it as a big overstep of the government, reaching far beyond where they belong. Every Republican in the House is against it, and I don't blame them. The bill is over 4,000 pages long. It includes a large number of "earmarks" that are basically concessions written in for different representatives and their states that essentially buy their vote for the bill. It's bribery, pure and simple, and I can only imagine what our founding fathers would think if they were here today.

The healthcare bill is incredibly unpopular. I've listened to Democrats appealing to the "wants and needs of the people, of families, of children" in order to encourage their bill, and I wonder, who are they talking about? "Survey after survey has demonstrated the unpopularity of this bill" - Republican representative. It's true. Look at Canada, if you want to know how it's going to go. As a college student looking forward to marriage and starting a family at some point in the next few years, the deterioration of healthcare and increase in taxes and insurance costs scares me.

However, I believe that before this day is over, they'll probably pass it. And if not today, another day. I suppose I have somewhat of a cynical perspective, or perhaps it's a gospel perspective, I don't know. But I don't really think that things are going to get better anytime soon. Yes, there are small victories and little miracles every day. But I believe the world is only going to get worse, and things are only going to get harder, until the return of the Savior.

I watch the Democrats make their presentations, tell their stories, plow through the opposition as if it didn't even exist, and it reminds me of the meeting of the congress in Star Wars 3, where the Chancellor proclaims himself Emperor, when he dissolves their system of government, when he convinces nearly everyone that this is a "historic" moment, a good move, for the good of everyone, and Padme states, "So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous applause."