Today's opinions and editorials: Some see house voting in the interest of the majority while others decry bipartisan, costly effort

Will Health Reform Wreck Us? Hardly The Philadelphia Daily News
I know, I know, Democracy's dead, the Union's crumbling and "big guvment" is knocking down your door to deliver forced proctology exams — without latex gloves. ... Well, my friends, get a grip. What really happened, finally, is a House elected by a majority decided to act in the majority's interest. What happened is the start of an effort to fix a problem that sooner or later touches everyone. And what happened is a step toward ending America's moral deficiency as the sole industrialized Democracy not offering health care to its people (John Baer, 3/22).

The Doctors Of The House The Wall Street Journal
This week's votes don't end our health-care debates. By making medical care a subsidiary of Washington, they guarantee such debates will never end. And by ramming the vote through Congress on a narrow partisan majority, and against so much popular opposition, Democrats have taken responsibility for what comes next — to insurance premiums, government spending, doctor shortages and the quality of care. They are now the rulers of American medicine (3/21).

It's Over! Health Care Is Passed. Will It Really Work? The Fiscal Times
The end of the year-long political debate does not answer the deeper concern for millions of Americans worried about the nation's escalating deficit: Will it pay for itself? The answer to that question won't come between now and the next election, when some Democrats in swing districts may lose their jobs because of the vote they cast on Sunday. Rather, it will come over the next decade as the reforms in the bill gradually go into effect (Merrill Goozner, 3/22).

Health Care Reform, at Last The New York Times
The process was wrenching, and tainted to the 11th hour by narrow political obstructionism, but the year-long struggle over health care reform came to an end on Sunday night with a triumph for countless Americans who have been victimized or neglected by their dysfunctional health care system. Barack Obama put his presidency on the line for an accomplishment of historic proportions (3/21).

Victory - At What Cost? The Chicago Tribune
Remember, this legislation's most dramatic provisions don't take effect until 2014. That gives time to craft a more sensible compromise that extends health care coverage to more people without breaking the bank. Democrats were right to take on the issue, but woefully wrong in the scope and execution (3/21).

Obama Just Sealed His Place in History CBS News/The New Republic
Let me offer a ludicrously premature opinion: Barack Obama has sealed his reputation as a president of great historical import. ... He has put his imprint on the structure of American government in a way that no Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson has. The last two generations have no model for such a president (Jonathan Chait, 3/22).

Vast Ambition, Colossal Risk The Wall Street Journal
A principal reason the health bill was so hard to get to this point, and the reason it's such a political risk, is that this landmark legislation proposes expanding the government's role in the giant health economy at a time when Americans are far less likely to trust the government to do things right (Gerald F. Seib, 3/22).