Requiem for reform

The health-care reform initiative passed away Tuesday after prolonged suffering at the hands of competing interest groups and shortsighted members of Congress ("Mass. Sends Republican to Senate: Epic Upset Signals Trouble Ahead for President on His Health Overhaul," Jan. 20). The reports of the autopsy have not been released yet, but rumors hyped by news agencies have been circulating widely.

Preliminary reports indicate that voters in a state with near-universal coverage saw no reason to extend the benefits to the rest of the country. Health insurance reform stood on the street corners of Washington, desperately trying to turn enough tricks to be affordable by both citizens and their government. It eliminated the public option, handed out exemptions left and right and stripped off anything it could to please its clients in Congress.

Ultimately, bloated by pork and bereft of muscle, the initiative was denied coverage -- due, no doubt, to the pre-existing conditions -- and abandoned to the Massachusetts winter.

The epitaph upon the tombstone reads: Here lies the legacy of Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

 

DAVID CLEMENS-SEWALL
Squirrel Hill