GOP says they will agree to meet with Obama over the Health Care bill if he agrees to start over from scratch……good for them.
No more of the typical Dem way. Meaning the backroom deals, the buying off of politicians, no more Obama telling the country what we need. Instead, you listen to us and WE tell you what we need.
In the end, this ain’t gonna happen. If Obama gives in to the Republicans & the American people then he will lose his base even more. This bill is only about votes. It’s no longer about fixing real problems with health care in this country. So he will meet and try to dictate terms. Does the GOP have the spine to say no?
According to this letter it does:
Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward on health care in a bipartisan way, does that mean he will agree to start over so that we can develop a bill that is truly worthy of the support and confidence of the American people? Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that the President is “absolutely not” resetting the legislative process for health care. If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate.
Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward in a bipartisan way, does that mean he has taken off the table the idea of relying solely on Democratic votes and jamming through health care reform by way of reconciliation? As the President has noted recently, Democrats continue to hold large majorities in the House and Senate, which means they can attempt to pass a health care bill at any time through the reconciliation process. Eliminating the possibility of reconciliation would represent an important show of good faith to Republicans and the American people
~~~Will the President be inviting officials and lawmakers from the states to participate in this discussion? As you may know, legislation has been introduced in at least 36 state legislatures, similar to the proposal just passed by the Democratic-controlled Virginia State Senate, providing that no individual may be compelled to purchase health insurance. Additionally, governors of both parties have raised concerns about the additional costs that will be passed along to states under both the House and Senate bills
~~~Finally, as you know, this is the first televised White House health care meeting involving the President since last March. Many health care meetings of the closed-door variety have been held at the White House since then, including one last month where a sweetheart deal was worked out with union leaders. Will the special interest groups that the Obama Administration has cut deals with be included in this televised discussion?
Ok, now it comes down to if the Republicans can show the courage to refuse this invitation if Obama will not support starting over from scratch.
I’m not so sure.
I hope they do since this is obviously just a ploy by Obama to get face time on the networks to say “hey, we invited them to talk to us.” When the only thing that is going to happen is Obama will try and dictate terms to conservatives and the majority of this country.
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