The politics of health care reform

In many ways the reform debate is a struggle among competing ideologies. The risk we take is that the politics becomes more important than the results. For the ordinary citizen, it matters little who gets the credit. What matters is how well the system addresses the critical issues of access coverage, and cost. The choices are difficult. Those who think we have the resources necessary to conquer all our problems fail to admit that the United States is not the Garden of Eden. It would be nice if government were able to legislate away the negative effects of our human nature. But since that is impossible, we must set realistic goals and establish reasonable priorities. The challenge is before us.