How the Anti-Health Republicans Can Still Derail Health Care

As Congress reconciles the House and Senate versions of Health Care, there will be much "give and take" to come up with a bill to send to the President that provides meaningful reform. While neither bill goes far enough, any compromise must be a good start toward real reform.

From what I have read, it seems that the final bill is moving in a direction whereby the individual states have much control over the parameters of coverage and benefits. It would be a mistake to let this happen. For real reform, the bill must be a mandate, not a set of minimum guidelines. Despite the millions of dollars of lobbying and the intransigence of the anti-health Republicans, Congress has started to move in the right direction. By putting the critical decisions in the hands of the individual states, the lobbyists will simply transfer their tremendous bribes to the state legislatures which are even more dysfunctional than Congress. Even in a "blue" state such as New Jersey, I fear that the incoming Republican governor along with a bribe-prone legislature will undo to the good work that Congress has started.