HEALTHCARE part IV Wiley Fox, Barack

Monitoring the healthcare "rumble in the Congressional  jungle" I kept asking myself, "How could President Obama and his Administration be so inept and fumble the policy ball repeatedly over the past 12 months?"  Then it dawned on me about what was really happening. The president knew that, no matter what he proposed, there would be critics -- some sincere and others blatantly partisan. He knew his political "nose" would be bloodied when he entered the Congressional "gauntlet." All he had to do was hang in there.

However the upcoming healthcare vote turns out, there will be a new program of some kind.  People may not like the current proposal but, in light of recent massive insurance premium increases and roughly 1 out of 6 out of us out of work, Congress knows it has to pass something.

Bottom line: In the past year Barack Obama has moved healthcare policy forward farther than all the Congresses and administrations have been able to do since President Harry Truman first proposed a national healthcare program 65 years ago. History will smile on Obama's creativity and his courage to stand up and take serious blows for America's health. More than just cost control or people's health is at stake. A strong national healthcare policy is a matter of national defense.