The health care reform bill has taken a pit stop

Welcome to the separation of powers. The health care reform bill - the vehicle on the journey to universal health care - has taken a pit stop.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. and majority leader, signaled as much Thursday during his press conference. It will take longer than two weeks for the Senate to reconcile two Senate bills and attract at least some Republicans to health care reform, which is, in truth, arguably, the biggest and most complex social policy addressed by the Congress since the Medicare Act of 1965.