He gave up on homosexuals in the military and an overhaul of the health-insurance system and took on welfare reform, more cops on the beat and fiscal restraint.

In doing so, officials say, the bill brings the health-insurance system back to its original mission.

County executives say the governor and lawmakers, in essence, have shifted the financial burden for several programs from the state to the federal health-insurance system, and thus to the counties as well.

In short, our health-insurance system is in a death spiral.

Reforming America's health-insurance system was never going to be an easy task, given people's natural aversion to change (not to mention Republicans' aversion to doing anything that might help Barack Obama).

For Republicans, the current health-insurance system works reasonably well-in their minds, it's a key part of what they kept referring to as "the best health-care system in the world"-and therefore whatever changes need to be should be small.

Instead of quality care for all, the country will move toward making Medicare a second-class program for the elderly poor and toward a health-insurance system favoring the affluent and the healthy.

They also say that managed care adds a new administrative layer to the already complex health-insurance system, creating many jobs that did not exist a decade ago and costing billions of dollars a year more than it should.

New York legislative leaders and Governor Cuomo agreed to a major overhaul of the state's health-insurance system, including provisions that would compel commercial insurers to accept all applicants, no matter how sick.

If it weren't, Democrats would surely be beating the feathers and dust out of George Bush for doing nothing while the country's rickety private health-insurance system totters toward collapse.