After Republicans challenged minor parts of Sunday’s bill passage, last night the Senate voted 56 to 43 for proposed changes, including better benefits for seniors and low-income and middle-class families. The House of Representatives immediately added its approval with a vote of 220 to 207, clearing the way for Mr. Obama’s signature on the second of two bills marking what the President called “a year of debate and a century of trying” to ensure coverage for nearly all in a nation where millions lack it. But Republicans are not taking this fight lying down and have vowed to campaign for repeal in the fall election season, to which the President replied: “Go for it.”
Speaking at the University of Iowa, President Obama said “Leaders of the Republican party, they called the passage of this bill ‘Armageddon.’ Armageddon. ‘End of freedom as we know it.’ So after I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling or some cracks opening up in the earth. It turned out it was a nice day,” the President joked.
Mr. Obama is expected to sign the legislation early next week.
`
