I’ve joked before about numerous City of Peoria projects being defended on the grounds that they’re “better than nothing.” After listening to the health care debate in the U.S. House of Representatives on C-SPAN this afternoon, I’m disheartened to hear that this has evidently become a national slogan. After several representatives expressed grave concerns about the defects of the bill, the majority party conceded that this wasn’t the best bill, but it was better than nothing.

I guess that’s what America has come to now: a nation where we aspire to the lowest common denominator, to the “good enough.” It really says something when a political party has the Presidency and both houses of Congress, that they still can’t craft a bill on which they all agree without resorting to bribes and kickbacks. Even when we have a single party in power, they still can’t do any better than “good enough” or “better than nothing.” How can this be explained other than a startling lack of character on the part of at least some legislators?

As I write this, the votes are being cast. We’ll all know within the next 10-15 minutes whether this wonderful “better than nothing” bill passed.

UPDATE: The health care bill passed in the House, 219-212. You will all be required by law to buy health insurance now.