Obama Signs Health Care Reform Bill Into Law

From the New York Times:

With the strokes of 20 pens, President Obama signed his landmark health care overhaul — the most expansive social legislation enacted in decades — into law on Tuesday, saying it enshrines “the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.”

Mr. Obama signed the measure, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, during a festive and at times raucous ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He spoke to an audience of nearly 300, including more than 200 Democratic lawmakers who rode a yearlong legislative roller coaster that ended with House passage of the bill Sunday night. They interrupted him repeatedly with cheers, applause and standing ovations.

In a companion piece, Dave Leonardt argues that the bill constitutes "the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago." Finally, the Times has a graphic which shows the effect the bill will have on a variety of individuals and families.

For a range of reactions to the bill's passage, see the Daily Kos Abbreviated Pundit Roundup for Tuesday and Wednesday as well as these pieces by Ruth Marcus and Kathleen Parker.

Update: The Washington Post has a good story on the Senate Republicans' last-ditch effort to defeat the legislation by punching holes in the reconciliation bill that is now before the Senate.

If you want to follow the last stages of the congressional debate, the best way is to keep an eye on TalkingPointsMemo's Countdown to Reform Wire.