The House of Representatives tonight passed health care, ending the loathsome insurance company practice of denying coverage for “preexisting conditions” and subsidizing health care to cover millions who now go without. And while the bill was far from perfect — it lacks the public option, for example — it was still a bit of progress that will almost certainly prevent people from dying.

Of course, for Republicans running to unseat Harry Reid, the Senate’s majority leader, it was a sad day.

Here’s what former Nevada GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden sent out:

“When Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama took control of Washington last year, they promised an ethical, centrist and transparent government; one that would strive to cut taxes, put people back to work, allow C-SPAN to watch bills being crafted and place necessary controls on government spending. Instead, we got hundreds of billions of dollars in higher taxes, trillions of dollars in higher debt, and a brand new government entitlement program. Harry Reid and his Career Politician Caucus have already bankrupted two other entitlement programs, so his solution is to create another.

“Today, as our state sits at record unemployment, every Nevada taxpayer is reminded how Harry Reid has once again turned his back on us. He didn’t care that poll after poll shows public opinion strongly against his bill. He got his marching orders from a liberal blogger, ignored Nevada voters, wrote a bill in secret, bribed fellow politicians with our tax dollars and once again became the poster-child for Washington Incumbency (sic; emphasis in original).

“The health care solutions I put forward at the start of my campaign would have cut costs, encouraged competition, reduced the deficit, provided medical liability reform and it would have been done without Medicare raids, accounting gimmickry, nor tax hikes. And, my plan would have been Constitutional – just another detail that career-politician Harry Reid seems to intentionally ignore.”

A few things: One, there’s no such thing as the Career Politician Caucus. That’s something Lowden made up. Two, I only wish Reid took marching orders from liberal bloggers; I’d order him to legalize marijuana, already! And three, the thousands of Nevadans who now don’t have health-care coverage might see things slightly differently than she does.

Famous son Danny Tarkanian wasn’t far behind Lowden. Here’s his remarks:

“The passage of the Senate bill may fulfill the career dreams of Harry Reid, but it is a nightmarish blow to our freedoms and to America’s financial future. As Nevada’s U.S. senator, I will work to repeal the damaging aspects of this bill and replace it with real health care reform that cuts costs and covers those in true need. Last fall I promised a ballot initiative to opt out of any “public option.” While this bill does not contain a public option per se, I will be analyzing the bill this week and drafting language to make sure Nevadans maintain control of their health care. This battle is not over. In the long run, freedom will prevail because the American people will demand it.

On the abortion deal [in which Obama pledged to issue an executive order to prevent federal funds in the health-care reform package from being used for abortions], Tarkanian made the following comment:

“I am not fooled by any empty promise made by this president to guarantee that federal funds won’t be used for abortions.”

Really? A “nightmarish blow to our freedoms”? Seriously? And isn’t this bill the result of the American people demanding some reforms in the way insurance companies operate? Call it the “freedom” to not get screwed in a “nightmarish” private sector bureaucracy.

But first out of the gate wasn’t any of Reid’s opponents. It was the Tea Party Express, headed to Reid’s hometown of Searchlight on Saturday to rally with the likes of Sarah Palin and Gov. Jim Gibbons against Reid, government, health care and, well, civilization.Here’s what those folks had to say:

“Opposition to the federal health care takeover reaches across the country,” said Bryan Shroyer, Political Director of the Tea Party Express, “and the number of Americans flocking to Searchlight next week is just the most recent example.”

…

“Searchlight has a population of just under 700 people. This Saturday the town will swell to become one of the largest cities in the state of Nevada,” Shroyer said.

“With Congress jamming through this health care bill, the momentum for this tea party movement will only grow stronger,” said Shroyer.

It should be fun. In the meantime, here’s some of the instant coverage of the health care vote, in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, and the Huffington Post.

UPDATE: An awesome Washington Post chart showing the health care vote along with contributions from industry groups. (Hat tip to Elizabeth Crum, Myrna the Minx — thanks, ladies!)

UPDATE 2: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, without whom the health-care reform bill would not have passed, issued a statement about its passage. Here it is:

“Today, over a half million Nevadans are a step closer to quality, affordable health care. Tens of thousands of Nevada small businesses are a step closer to getting critical relief to support health care for their employees. Over 200,000 Nevada seniors are a step closer to a stronger Medicare program that puts money back in their pockets instead of padding insurer profits. This story can be told all over America, and it represents the real impact of today’s passage of health reform in the House.

“I commend Speaker Pelosi and her team for leading passage of this common sense legislation that puts Americans back in control of their own health care, lowers skyrocketing costs, reduces the deficit, protects seniors and curbs insurance company abuses. She and her colleagues in the House understand that this was never about politics; it has always been about people who are struggling every day to keep their families healthy without going broke. This is about the scores of people we hear from every day who need greater security and stability in their health care.

“As the Senate prepares to complete our work on this historic effort, Senate Democrats reaffirm our commitment to reform because we know it’s good for middle-class families, seniors and small businesses in Nevada and all across America.”

UPDATE 3: Here are President Obama’s full remarks from his news conference:

Tonight, after nearly 100 years of talk and frustration, after decades of trying, and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America’s workers and America’s families and America’s small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here, in this country, neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.

Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics. We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests. We didn’t give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear. Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges. We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people.

I want to thank every member of Congress who stood up tonight with courage and conviction to make health care reform a reality. And I know this wasn’t an easy vote for a lot of people. But it was the right vote. I want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn for their commitment to getting the job done. I want to thank my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden, and my wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, for their fantastic work on this issue. I want to thank the many staffers in Congress, and my own incredible staff in the White House, who have worked tirelessly over the past year with Americans of all walks of life to forge a reform package finally worthy of the people we were sent here to serve.

Today’s vote answers the dreams of so many who have fought for this reform. To every unsung American who took the time to sit down and write a letter or type out an e-mail hoping your voice would be heard — it has been heard tonight. To the untold numbers who knocked on doors and made phone calls, who organized and mobilized out of a firm conviction that change in this country comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up — let me reaffirm that conviction: This moment is possible because of you.

Most importantly, today’s vote answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for something to be done about a health care system that works for insurance companies, but not for ordinary people. For most Americans, this debate has never been about abstractions, the fight between right and left, Republican and Democrat — it’s always been about something far more personal. It’s about every American who knows the shock of opening an envelope to see that their premiums just shot up again when times are already tough enough. It’s about every parent who knows the desperation of trying to cover a child with a chronic illness only to be told “no” again and again and again. It’s about every small business owner forced to choose between insuring employees and staying open for business. They are why we committed ourselves to this cause.

Tonight’s vote is not a victory for any one party — it’s a victory for them. It’s a victory for the American people. And it’s a victory for common sense.

Now, it probably goes without saying that tonight’s vote will give rise to a frenzy of instant analysis. There will be tallies of Washington winners and losers, predictions about what it means for Democrats and Republicans, for my poll numbers, for my administration. But long after the debate fades away and the prognostication fades away and the dust settles, what will remain standing is not the government-run system some feared, or the status quo that serves the interests of the insurance industry, but a health care system that incorporates ideas from both parties — a system that works better for the American people.

If you have health insurance, this reform just gave you more control by reining in the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known — so that you are actually getting what you pay for.

If you don’t have insurance, this reform gives you a chance to be a part of a big purchasing pool that will give you choice and competition and cheaper prices for insurance. And it includes the largest health care tax cut for working families and small businesses in history — so that if you lose your job and you change jobs, start that new business, you’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable care and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.

This reform is the right thing to do for our seniors. It makes Medicare stronger and more solvent, extending its life by almost a decade. And it’s the right thing to do for our future. It will reduce our deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade, and more than $1 trillion in the decade after that.

So this isn’t radical reform. But it is major reform. This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system. But it moves us decisively in the right direction. This is what change looks like.

Now as momentous as this day is, it’s not the end of this journey. On Tuesday, the Senate will take up revisions to this legislation that the House has embraced, and these are revisions that have strengthened this law and removed provisions that had no place in it. Some have predicted another siege of parliamentary maneuvering in order to delay adoption of these improvements. I hope that’s not the case. It’s time to bring this debate to a close and begin the hard work of implementing this reform properly on behalf of the American people. This year, and in years to come, we have a solemn responsibility to do it right.

Nor does this day represent the end of the work that faces our country. The work of revitalizing our economy goes on. The work of promoting private sector job creation goes on. The work of putting American families’ dreams back within reach goes on. And we march on, with renewed confidence, energized by this victory on their behalf.

In the end, what this day represents is another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American Dream. Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us. When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge — we overcame it. We did not avoid our responsibility — we embraced it. We did not fear our future — we shaped it.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

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