On health-care, GOP faces risk, too

Obama's overreaching health-care reform is in trouble. But are Republicans, too?

Are the wheels coming off the Democratic plan to revolutionize American health care? We can only hope so. But as Republicans resist the new controls, new taxes, and new government expansion proposed by Democrats, they need to be very careful to avoid the opposite mistake: defending an indefensible status quo.

The American health-care system is a costly and inefficient quagmire. It spends dramatically more than any other health-care system on the planet, while producing (at best) only marginally better results. Wages are stagnating for middle-income Americans because of the surge in health -are costs. Fear of losing insurance deters many from switching jobs or striking out on their own. The uninsured get sicker, and the inadequately insured worry that illness will lead to financial ruin.

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David Frum is editor of FrumForum.com and the author of six books, including most recently COMEBACK: Conservatism That Can Win Again. In 2001 and 2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. In 2007, he served as senior foreign policy adviser to the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign.