Can Congress redeem its record of failure on health care?
Rather than describing things as they really are, Washington excels at the art of equivocation. Because no one wants to risk alienating the powers that be, we make excuses (usually under the guise of “analysis”) as to why Congress couldn’t get a particular bill passed. We blame problems on gridlock, partisanship or outside special interests when Congress fails to pass important and popular legislation. It sometimes seems that our elected lawmakers are powerless to change the course of events, even though it is they who determine the agenda and schedule the votes. Very few will say it, but the sorry truth is that the 107th Congress adjourned in mid-October to campaign for re-election after miserably failing to enact a single piece of major health care legislation. The responsibility for this failure lies with both the House and the Senate, Republicans as well as Democrats. Individually and collectively, this Congress failed to act to halt devastating Medicare payments cuts, to expand co
