Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said: "If you've been in government a long time, as I have been, then the most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence. Why is this exciting? Because it's rare." When I read the quote, even today, I can hear the late New York senator'ês voice booming, his last word full with extra punctuation.
Today I'm excited for the government. Health care reform should bring nutrition to a starving Indian health system. And, if the next test for health care reform is execution, then the government might be on the right course. President Obama used his authority to give Dr. Donald Berwick a recess appointment to head the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.
This is a choice that exceeds Moynihan's rareness of competency. Berwick represents the ideal, the one person you think could help the government, the people and the medical profession come together and a coalesce around the idea of excellent health care.
Last December at the
