Long-term promises almost always turn into long-term problems. Just ask Detroit. The Big Three automakers (General Motors, Ford and Daimler Chrysler) are suffering record losses and lagging sales. They've been here before, in the late 1970s, and managed to pull through. However, there is one significant difference between then and now: rising health-care costs,…

In 1997, George Zeliotis, a Quebec citizen, learned that he needed hip-replacement surgery. But his troubles were just beginning. As is standard in Canada for non-emergency surgery, Zeliotis was put on a waiting list behind everyone else in Quebec who needed the same procedure. When he learned that his wait would be a year and that he would have to endure the pain…

If the government offered you hundreds of dollars with no strings attached, would you take it? How about if it was willing to throw in an extra $600 if you were low income? Nobody would knowingly walk away from that. Unfortunately, that's exactly what millions of senior citizens will do if they don't sign up for the Medicare Drug Discount Card by Dec. 31. A survey by…

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a "war on poverty." Thirty years and more than $5 trillion later, the war was failing. It took the 1996 welfare reform to make it work -- though many critics opposed reform, claiming the policies that had been failing for three decades needed more time to work. The critics aren't so generous when the topic is the new…

Let's face it: Everybody needs health insurance. As someone who spent my college years uninsured, I learned what it's like to feel ill, yet wait as long as possible to go to see the doctor, hoping it will pass. Luckily I never had a serious health problem -- but millions of people aren't as fortunate. They need help. But Congress still hasn't done the obvious:…

Let the savings begin. On June 1, the federal government launched its new Medicare drug discount card program to help seniors cut their out-of-pocket expenses on prescriptions. Estimates of savings range from 10 percent to 25 percent off retail prices. There's more. For low-income seniors, the cards carry a $600 subsidy to help offset out-of-pocket costs. This…