"It Is Time For Us To Act On What Everyone Knows To Be True."

William Galston pores through public opinion studies on healthcare and urges the administration to honestly present the costs and benefits of healthcare reform:

It's time to begin leveling with the people about the choices they face if we are finally to achieve universal health insurance with meaningful cost containment. On a matter that touches every American directly, agreement among stakeholders and elected officials is not enough. The people themselves must be brought into the discussion, and they must understand--in advance--what they are being asked to accept. The alternative to candor, however risky it may appear in the short-term, could be yet another catastrophic failure.