Start Over?

The Republican mantra at today's healthcare summit seemed to be, "we need to start over."  After 12 months of discussion on the national stage, after hearings before five Congressional committees, after thousands of letters, emails and editorials, why would anyone think it was a good idea to start over?  If Republicans are serious about helping to solve this problem, it will be relatively easy to amend current bills.  Amendments will be necessary to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of health reform legislation, so incorporating some changes to win Republican votes would be easy if Republican votes were really there.  In reality, they are not there.

The urgency for starting over is nothing but an attempt to avoid doing anything on health reform.  It is a vote for the status quo, and that is clearly unacceptable.  In seven to 10 years, healthcare costs will double again, we'll be spending $25,000 or more for a family policy, businesses will be driven out of business if they provide insurance or the uninsured population will surge if businesses drop health coverage, all businesses that offer health coverage will be increasingly uncompetitive with competitors in other countries where government provides this vital service, and costs are far less than they are in the U. S.