Power to the patients

President Obama would do well to listen to former president Bill Clinton's expert advice on perjurious promises and "honor the commitment" he made to the American people about keeping the health insurance policies they like.

But this president is neither a listener nor a legislator, and both ego and ideology likely will block reform of the healthcare reform law. Ideologues bullied the bill through Congress with back-room deals, ran roughshod over religious freedom with controversial mandates, and now refuse to reform while premiums skyrocket, preferred policies vanish and expected signups evaporate. 

With unintended irony, the White House "Get the Facts Straight on Health Reform" website asserts, "For too long, too many hard-working Americans paid the price for policies that handed free rein to insurance companies." Now hard-working Americans are paying the price for policies dictated by the administration.

Congress should accept the verdict against the President's signature debacle and replace Obamacare with bipartisan, measured healthcare reform that combines compassion with fiscal sensibility and reasonable oversight with the consumer benefits of competition and choice. By restoring power to the patients, Congress might also restore a measure of confidence in a government that has failed to keep its promises.