A Fresh Start -- and an End to the Delays

Ted Kennedy often called major health-care reform "the cause of my life." With his passing, I hope America and our representatives will take it up as the cause of Kennedy's legacy.

Kennedy was a phenomenal legislator and politician, but he viewed the health-care issue through a largely moral lens. It was simply wrong for a country with the vast wealth of the U.S. to leave people without insurance or in constant fear their insurance would not come through in times of hardship.

Kennedy's death should create a fresh start. Enough of the political games. Enough of the delay tactics. Enough of the stalling. We must get health reform done now.

If Republicans and conservative Democrats are willing to be constructive partners in the debate -- as Kennedy himself would have preferred -- then the House and Senate leadership should invite them to the table. But if not, our committed leaders should be ready to go it alone.

The country made its preference perfectly clear in November -- the candidate who made a major health care overhaul a main plank of his campaign was the overwhelming winner.

Kennedy did not live to see the cause of his life fulfilled. We cannot let countless others die waiting, too.

By Angela Glover Blackwell  |  August 26, 2009; 12:35 PM ET  | Category:  Health Care Reform
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