Latest Gerstein Forbes Column

In his weekly political column for Forbes.com out today, Gotham President Dan Gerstein offers a strategic cure for President Obama and his party heading into Thursday's health care summit meeting at the White House.

If Democrats can cross the psychic barrier of accepting that universal coverage is just not viable now, they'll see there's a much safer, surer and politically beneficial course wide open for them: Just call the Republicans' bluff about starting over. I'm not talking about the process, but the product. Quickly put together a fresh plan that includes the much-vaunted 80% of reforms that both sides say they agree on (pre-existing conditions, portability, lifetime caps, cross-state purchasing, etc.) and that throws in a few bones for Republicans (like the medical malpractice fixes proposed). Make that the core bill you bring to the floor in both the House and Senate, with no limits on debate. Then offer your universal coverage provisions and pay-fors as amendments right before the final vote.

You can read the full column here.