I know this is a couple of days late and several dollars short, but just for the record: I didn’t do my homework on the healthcare bill. I don’t know the ins and outs of the president’s controversial plan, despite the fact that every news agency in the country has picked the bill apart, line by line. I’ve had ample time and opportunity to get informed, but like many of my fellow Americans, I’m lazy that way.

Here’s what I do know, though:

1. Smart people — people I trust, like our president, some of my nonpartisan friends, and even my moderate Republican father — support the bill.

2. Stupid people — people I most definitely do not trust, like, say, David Vitter — are adamantly opposed to it.

3. The one thing that I do know about the bill is this:

The massive healthcare reform bill passed by Congress and headed for President Obama’s signature includes language requiring restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to provide calorie labeling on menus, menu boards, drive-through displays and vending machines, reports the Center for Science in the Public Interest. [MediaPost]

And I love that. If you’ve been to New York in the past year or two, you know what a difference seeing nutritional values right on the menu can make in your eating choices.

Add all that up, and I’m inclined to support the healthcare bill. Not like my opinion matters, not like I get a vote, but whatever. I’m just thinking out loud.

Everybody admits that the current system isn’t working, and conservatives — by definition, those who wish to uphold tradition and avoid radical change — are never going to address it. As a progressive, I think someone has to make the first step, and as a liberal, I think it ought to be the government. It may not be perfect, but I’m not a perfectionist. That’s what amendments are for.

As for the wingnuts and their various lawsuits over the legislation…well, despite the protestations of Ken Cuccinelli and his sour-grapes buddies, I think there’s precedent for federal law trumping state law. In fact, I believe there’s a clause in the constitution that insists upon it. Then again, the Supremes are weighted slightly to the right, so who can say? Except the Supremes, I mean.

The only downside, as far as I can see, is Obama’s signature on the bill. Is that the way he signs everything? Looks like someone’s been practicing that one since second grade.