Who Is Blocking Health Care Reform Now?

We the People choose step-wise, patient-centered, fiscally responsible reforms, will President Obama stand in the way?

Could President Obama be obstructing health care reform? Is it possible? I never imagined writing these words. Yet, after watching the president deliver his State of the Union address on Wednesday night, this question lingered in my mind. Driven by ideology, could President Obama now be the one obstructing real patient-centered health care reform?

Without question health care reform lay at the center of the president's domestic agenda. But with the election of Senator Scott Brown, he no longer has the votes needed to push universal health care reform through the Senate. Driven by pork, pay-offs, and dirty backroom deals the public has lost trust in Washington and their plan for government-run health care. Last week's Rasmussen poll revealed that 58% of Americans—a record high—now oppose his plan. At this point, it looks like even getting health care legislation through the House is an uphill climb.

Yet, President Obama remains determined to press on with his full agenda.
This raises the question, if President Obama is unable to pass comprehensive health care reform, will he keep smaller, separate measures (such as letting businesses purchase insurance across state lines or ending frivolous litigation) off the table?

Free-market, patient-centered solutions run counter to President Obama's understanding of effective "health care reform." However, the primary difficulty for these ideas is they threaten the Democratic power base. We saw this in the recent Massachusetts election when independent voters elected a Republican in a deep blue state. Given this, the question becomes, if the We the People choose step-wise, patient-centered, fiscally responsible reforms, will President Obama stand in the way?