Hoping for progress

Health care reform has been the Obama administration's top policy priority for almost an entire year. If Senator Edward Kennedy had lived longer, or the election for his replacement had turned out differently, maybe Congress would have done something.
The president has been on the sidelines for the debate over how to fix America's health care system. This week's live health care television summit between the President and Congressional leaders will shape American politics for years.
It may provide the political turning point this year. If the meeting fails to shake things up and doesn't lead to real reform, Democrats and the president are in for a miserable time.
President Barack Obama unveiled a new plan on Monday. Here are the basic facts to keep in mind: the bill would provide coverage for up to 30 million people who are currently uninsured, the future government deficits will also be reduced and medical costs will be brought under control.
Perhaps the flashiest new measure is to give the federal government, along with state insurance regulators, the power to halt excessive premium increases. Last week, customers of Anthem Blue Cross saw their rates increase by 39 percent.
Such actions would no longer be tolerated.
The proposals are far from perfect, but the administration estimates the cost of the plan will be $950 billion over 10 years, which would reduce the deficit by $100 billion over the next decade and about $1 trillion in the decade after that.
If Republicans threaten filibusters, let them. Democrats should use a budget reconciliation procedure that requires a majority vote for passage in the Senate.
It's time for the gloves to come off.
The United States ranked No. 37 in the World Health Organization's latest rankings. Countries like Oman, Cyprus and Finland all rank ahead of the United States. If that doesn't upset Americans, what will?
Just saying no to everything without any counter-proposal doesn't carry weight anymore. The point of having the summit televised is to allow all Americans to see what their leaders are actually doing.
Republicans need to start putting their own ideas on the table. Then the debate will no longer be about the flaws in the Democrats' plan – whether they are real or made up.
It will become a debate about what the Democratic and Republican plans consist of. That's a fair debate.
To anyone paying attention, Democrats have included many Republican suggestions in these proposed bills. If the only way to gain Republican votes is for Democrats to enact only conservative Republican ideas into law, that isn't bipartisanship.
That's blackmail.
Republicans were outraged over 'backroom' deals in forming the bill. The Democrats have made their plans public, let the Republicans do the same.
Let the American people decide for themselves.
Republicans have the right to be as conservative as they choose to be. They have justifiable political reasons to oppose health care reform.
But just saying no and providing no alternative plan is unacceptable.
This may be the last chance to fix the health care system. A loss for President Obama and the Democrats is not an option.