Change.gov

Americans are going to be busy these next two weeks. Christmas and New Year’s are traditionally a time to spend with family, do last-minute shopping and take a break from the strains of work -- and apparently fix America’s health care system.

That’s right, Tom Daschle wants you to talk about health care over the holidays. President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services has given the country two weeks, including Christmas Day, to provide input on how to improve health care in America.

Daschle doesn’t care if you meet at home, the office or a coffee shop -- just as long as he’s able to boast that the Obama administration listened to Americans. He probably figures it’ll be an easier sell when he proposes his Orwellian “Federal Health Board” to ensure unprecedented government interference in the delivery of care.

Transparency is so key because if we're going to do this right, it's going to mean we have to involve the American people. We have to involve people who have personal stories to tell, who have ideas to share, who have real experiences they can relate to. That is the essence of good legislating.

Daschle's "grassroots" reform discussion is a con -- and we need to expose it as such. Only organized interest groups such as AARP and Families USA will be listened to or even have a chance to be heard when the legislation is drafted. Can you picture Daschle dropping by Starbucks over the next two weeks to hear from real people? It’s ridiculous.

As conservatives, we need to figure out how we’re going to respond to attempts by the Obama administration to use the guise of public feedback to implement liberal policies. That could mean flooding Change.gov with comments from conservative activists or holding our own discussion forums to promote free-market ideas. We could embrace tools like Rebuild the Party’s feedback forum or shape public opinion through popular petitions like Drill Here, Drill Now.

Conservatives don’t have time to waste. On issues like health care and the economy, the Obama administration and liberals in Congress will move quickly next year before their honeymoon ends.