Did the Health Care Summit Accomplish Anything? David Loftus

In my opinion, anything that makes it a clearer to American citizens that Obama and his supporters who seek health care reform are on the side of the angels, and that the carping Republicans:

A. Oppose pretty much anything the President proposes, no matter what it is

B. Have been lying through their teeth about just what health reform means in general, as well as what Obama is proposing in particular

C. Have offered absolutely no alternatives whatsoever to the massive, messy failure that is the American medical payment system, let alone viable ones

has not been a waste of time. Unfortunately, probably only a couple dozen more people figured it out this week. Of course, most of us are still confused -- Obama’s team not sure how to sell the program ultimately, Republican opponents unable to tell the difference between opposition to the President’s proposals and opposition to health care reform in general, and most citizens unsure what to believe about either the administration’s proposals or their own goals -- and that usually results in no action at all.

Supposedly, we’re all going to get to vote in November on whatever gets passed in Washington this season. But I fear too much confusion will remain (and be encouraged by the President’s opponents) to allow anything substantive to survive and change the system we have into something that would accomplish more good. In other words, things are going to have to get a lot worse before enough people will realize how to make them better.