This summer, road trips are back, mainly because most of us can't afford to fly anywhere for a vacation, let alone pay for a resort hotel or a trip abroad. But in my book, road trips are just about the best form of vacation ever invented.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading off on my own road trip across America -- driving with my eldest son, Adam, and his huge mongrel of a dog, Herb. It's not a vacation, exactly. Adam needs another driver. But when he asked, I jumped at the chance.

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Every day that goes by without a vote in the House or Senate on universal health care makes it less likely that major reform will occur, because (1) opponents have more time to stir up public anxieties about it; (2) Democrats up for reelection next year come ever closer to the gravitational pull of the midterms, and grow increasingly worried about voting for a bill that could be a political liability in a year when unemployment may well reach double digits and the electorate is restless and unhappy; and (3), as a result of the first two, proponents increasingly have to rely for support and cover on industries like Big Pharma and insurance, as well as physician specialists and equipment suppliers, none of whom have any interest in fundamental reform but all of whom see possibilities for making more money out of whatever bill emerges.

In other words, next fall we get something called "universal health insurance" that still leaves millions of Americans uninsured and doesn't substantially slow the meteoric rise of health-care costs. That would be a tragedy.

What should be done now to avoid this?

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