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The Health Care “Summit”
President Obama has announced a bi-partisan health care summit.
“I want to come back [after the Presidents Day congressional recess] and have a large meeting — Republicans and Democrats — to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Obama said in an interview.
Although he has expressed frustration at Republicans for not wanting to “compromise,” the main battle brewing seems to be within the ranks of Obama’s Democrat party.
Many have asked the question: Should the Republicans participate in the summit? Public opinion polls show that American’s do not support the Democrat’s health care legislation, and this is reflected in President Obama’s approval rating on the matter. Unless the President throws out the current House and Senate versions and starts over from scratch, the “summit” charade is meaningless based on the public’s dissatisfaction with the legislation.
While the American people do not support the current Democrat health care plans, they also don’t feel the Republicans have laid out a plan at all. Sources tell me this is about to change.
Congressional Republicans must decide whether the summit that the President is hosting is the proper venue for releasing the details of their health care reform plan. Being that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other congressional Democrats have stated that certain aspects of the bill (portions that are the most unpopular with the American public) must remain, it’s highly unlikely that the President will allow the Republicans to upstage his own party at his own “summit.”
Republicans must ask the President for 2 things if he wants their participation in the summit:
1) Totally scrap the current legislation and start over from scratch
2) Allow the Republicans to unveil their health care reform bill
If the answer to either is “NO,” the GOP would be better off taking a pass on the summit and releasing their plan on a different forum.
Tags: Health Care Reform, Nancy Pelosi
