Wiser heads

Americans who care about their nation's future health have less difficulty in facing tough choices than do their representatives in Congress. That group has faced the challenge of a constituency that wants more services than it is willing to pay for, for a generation at least, and has chosen to ignore the challenge.

As a result, the Conrad-Gregg proposal in the Senate to allow an outside commission to propose a sweeping solution with nothing off the table was perhaps the only avenue available in our deadlocked times with any promise of success. So, while little noted in the fight over health care, its defeat in the Senate may well have been this Congress' worst single decision.

Let's hope that wiser heads will cause a rethinking and a wiser decision.