Need for health care reform remains

How ironic and, to supporters of health care reform, tragic. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who fought throughout his long political career to pass a universal health care bill, dies when Congress is on the brink of finally passing one. The voters of Massachusetts then elect a Republican to replace him - state Sen. Scott Brown, who ran on a promise to kill the bill.

It is downright Shakespearian.

Drama aside, the vote Tuesday to elect Mr. Scott changes, if not everything, many things. It means Republicans in the Senate now have 41 votes, denying Democrats the 60-vote majority necessary to end filibusters.

Mr. Scott's stunning election from traditionally Democratic Massachusetts comes just as Democrats in the House and Senate were working out the differences between their respective health care bills. Senate support, which was always shaky, has so eroded that it would be impossible to get approval for a House-Senate compromise bill. In addition to losing the 60-vote margin, moderate Democrats are backing away from the plan, fearful for their own political survival.

There is talk of the House adopting the Senate version, eliminating the need to return it to the Senate. Congress could then deal with any amendments in the budget bill, which by Senate rules is not subject to the filibuster. But there is much that House members do not like about the Senate version. And forcing a bill forward, given the Massachusetts election and growing evidence of the public's unease about the bill in its current form, risks further angering voters.

Back to drawing board

The better option for the White House and Democrats in Congress is to acknowledge that they now have ownership of a bill that is politically unpopular and begin overhauling it. President Obama needs to reach out to Republicans on issues such as tort reform and cost control, testing to see if the minority party genuinely wants to repair the nation's broken health care system or simply seeks to deny him a legislative victory.

Can Democrats work out a compromise bill with the Republican minority? We are pessimistic, but the effort must continue. We remain convinced that Americans do want their elected officials to address spiraling health costs that are pricing coverage beyond the ability of millions of citizens to pay and strangling businesses.

A recent economic survey of businesses in eastern Connecticut, conducted jointly by the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and the Greater Mystic Chamber, demonstrated this. Asked about the cost of providing coverage to workers, 68 percent of businesses described it as a significant burden, another 20 percent as a slight or moderate burden.

Loss of faith

Unfortunately, the bill cobbled together by the Democratic majority had become so complex and indecipherable, and was the product of so many blatant political deals, that many Americans lost faith that it would solve the problem and, instead, feared things would get worse. That's too bad, because both the Senate and House bills provide credible reforms that would make health coverage accessible to most Americans and stop the practice of denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions. And in doing so, it would utilize the private sector.

Tuesday's vote in Massachusetts, along with recent Democratic defeats in New Jersey and Virginia, should also serve to refocus the White House and Congress on two top priorities - job creation and the need to address the growing national debt. It was necessary for the government to pump money into the economy in 2008 and 2009 to avoid a financial collapse that could have pitched the world into a second Great Depression. But it is now time for President Obama to demonstrate how he intends to deal with the debt.

Some Republicans are crowing that recent events mean this will be a one-term president. They are as foolish as Democrats who said the 2008 victory assured their party majorities for years to come. There is no predicting American politics; Tuesday's election showed that.

Having a 60-vote margin in the Senate was perhaps too much of a good thing for President Obama. The 41st GOP vote will require him to work with Republicans, and it denies Republicans the excuse that they are helpless bystanders to a Democratic super majority.

Angry voters want Washington to work for them - that's a message both parties need to hear.