As a person over 50, I find it a bit confusing that those over 50 are more likely to be against health care reform. To begin with any self aware person realizes as they approach 50 that the possibility of losing their employment increases significantly.With the loss of employment comes the extreme financial burden of paying for health insurance which can easily exceed a thousand dollars a month for individual at that age. At 50 and above many of the sins of our past against our bodies begin to haunt us and it shows in the inflated premiums that we have to pay for adequate health care. If you are 50 years or older and not in favor of health care reform, you are either wealthy, tragically uninformed, or have been deliberately misled.

In the short term, seniors and baby boomers have the most to gain with health care reform, but from what I have the proponents of health care reform have done a less then adequate job in building the case for the need for health care reform and its benefits for the aging population. People have been frighten by terms such as "public option" and "single payer". The opposition has with success turned these benefits of health care reform into symbols to be feared and loathed.

The Obama Administration has failed in presenting a clear plan for health care reform. They have tried to be accommodating to an opposition that only desires the political defeat of the administration.  The President has failed to use the full power of his office within his own party in demanding reform. He has appeared weak and the Democratic party has appeared divided. The President must realize that as the Republican opposition hopes, the failure of health care reform will truly be his Waterloo. The President must insert himself forcefully into the health care debate and reign in  opposition in the congress, particularly in the senate if he is to be successful..