It’s “a new season in America.” Forgive us if we’re not embracing it.

As President Obama signed the nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul bill into law on Tuesday, he declared a “new season” in our nation.

And while he, and the Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives may have been beaming at their success in pushing this health care bill into law, millions of Americans are less than thrilled.

In what may be one of the most partisan efforts in our nation’s history, the Democratic leadership badgered and bullied their way to the necessary votes to pass the health care bill on Sunday, despite the lack of a single Republican vote in favor of the measure and the overwhelming outcry of Americans who don’t support the measure.

If this is the new season – a season of roughshod politics, deals made in back rooms and behind closed doors, and elected representatives who pay more homage to their political party than the people whom they were elected to represent – well, it’s not shaping up to be one worth embracing.

Even as proponents tout the positives of the bill, from eliminating insurance companies’ ability to reject coverage based on pre-existing conditions to allowing children to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26 – nothing can overshadow the looming concerns of ultimate cost to our nation and our children and the precedent set by a federal government which is in essence forcing Americans to purchase insurance, or to face fines and penalties.

The bill, and the way it was passed, are an affront to the American ideals our nation has celebrated for more than 230 years.

And this new season? It promises to be a stormy one, for our nation and its citizens.