Ridiculous: Obama to Hold Bipartisan Summit on Health Care

[cali]

o

By JEFF ZELENY
Published: February 7, 2010

President Obama said Sunday that he will convene a half-day, bipartisan health care summit at the White House on Feb. 25 to be broadcast on television, so Americans can see Democrats and R

The president made the announcement in an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show. The meeting would mark the first time in the long health care debate that leaders from both sides would be allowed to air their ideas publicly and see if they can find agreement.

Mr. Obama did not say what he was willing to give up in the negotiations or chart a specific legislative strategy for moving a bill through Congress.

“If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, there’s no reason we can’t do this faster than it took last year,” Mr. Obama said in an interview on Sunday afternoon from the White House Library.

He added that he would not be supportive of starting the health care debate from the beginning, but rather would try to work from the existing proposals that passed the House and Senate to find agreement. It remained an open question whether this would be possible, given the hardened views of Democrats and Republicans alike.

<snip>
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/us/politics/08webobama.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

What a waste of time.

[hatrack]

1. Uh, I have to ask . . . why?

Why? Isn't there a better use of his time?

:shrug:

[still_one]

7. Because it has worked so well for him last year

[truedelphi]

31. Obama's middle name is not "Hussein" it is

"Theatrics"

As in "theatrics" that bows to the manufactured chaos.

As long as that chaos is not from the progressive activist base that he appealed to such much in late Oct 2008.

[Mari333]

2. truly a waste of time. but kabuki theater, smoke and mirrors.

I gave up on health care a loong time ago. it isnt going to happen. right now, its just a huge clusterfck of theatrics, and bad theatrics at that.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Progressive Democrats and Blue Dogs?

He can't mean Republicans. They have opted out.

[Warpy]

4. He's still hoping to shame Republicans

into doing what's right for the country. He'd have better success trying to shame a rattlesnake into forgoing poison for the good of humanity.

[Supply Side Jesus]

5. Insanity

Repeating the same action and expecting a varying reaction....insanity.

[izquierdista]

6. If protesters for single-payer don't mob the White House that day..

....Americans deserve whatever sausage the politicians extrude.

[truedelphi]

32. Oh I am sure there will be mobs of them

But even should they number in the millions, there will not be any media coverage.

That is reserved exclusively for the Tea Baggers.

[Guilded Lilly]

8. Calling out the Republicans on nationwide TV

to actually SAY something other than NO NO NO could be a very smart move.

The Republicans are so damned fond of threatening to filabuster and spew at the mouth unendingly to obstruct EVERYTHING, let them actually attempt to come up with something constructive.
My bet is that they can't.

And it will be very evident.

[atreides1]

11. That worked so well the last time

And the House Republicans, all went back to Capital Hill and voted unanimously with their Democratic colleagues for a Public Option.(I don't think the sarcasm icon is really needed)

[pnorman]

34. This quote is what frequently comes to mind, when I observe Obama's strategy:

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before." --- Jacob August Riis

[BlueIdaho]

20. If you liked the meeting with House republicans - you're gonna love this...

A half day meeting will be valuable - not for advancing Health Care - but for shining a spotlight republican nonsense. We need to show America that they have no ideas and no intention of governing. The President also needs to build his approval ratings and the Democratic congress members approval ratings so they can survive using reconciliation to pass health care and more.

He schooled house republicans on their turf - just wait to see what he does on his home court.

[BzaDem]

9. This is obviously an attempt to make Republicans look like fools on live TV.

You could argue that it will fail and that trying to pass the current Senate bill with reconciliation would be a better approach (or that nothing would be a better approach). But he is definitely not under the impression that this is going to yield any agreement. This is more political than anything else.

[still_one]

10. It is becoming apparant that this administraion will be a failed presidency

I will still vote for him for president because of the supreme court, but it has been a disappointment to me

[Tim01]

12. This seems goofy. What the hell is he doing? nt

[NorthCarolina]

13. I like the concept of a public forum debate on Health Care, but NOT the part

about limiting discussion to the proposals currently in the Senate bill. Single Payer and an expansion of Medicare needs to be discussed openly, honestly, and in a public forum.

[Danger Mouse]

14. Mr. President, you are wasting your time and America's.

The repukes have proven time and again that 'Bi-partisan' just means 'both sides get screwed.'

[subterranean]

15. If he incorporates Republican "ideas"...

it's guaranteed to make the final bill even worse than it already is. And he will still not gain a single Republican vote.

[Lorien]

16. I heard on NPR yesterday Obama saying that Dems "can't go it alone on health care

we must reach across the aisle and take ideas from the other side..." the GOP will NEVER vote with Obama on this, no matter how Republican the bill becomes. He has to understand that.

[Motown_Johnny]

17. This had better just be a stunt. I think the plan is a good one...

assuming I have it straight.


Make the Senate pass a reconciliation bill that fixes as much of the current Senate bill as possible, then have the House pass both the existing Senate bill as well as the reconciliation bill.


That looks like the best we can do right now and we need to settle for it.

[thunder rising]

18. Republicans and conservadems in the room with experts to refute their "ideas" in front of cameras ..

priceless!

[theophilus]

19. He is working to bring pressure to bear. Maybe it's wrong headed. Give him a chance

to let this play out. If he can't get HC done then there will be no financial reform or climate change legislation. I think he knows that. His tactics are definitely not what I am used to, but I haven't totally given up hope, yet.

[spanone]

21. you'd think that susan collins' shitting on him would have indicated their bipartisanship

[geek tragedy]

22. This is a campaign event aimed at getting people to blame

Republicans for HCR dying. It has nothing to do with getting something passed.

[saracat]

23. So he wants to work with existing proposals so that means no public option.

What a freaking waste of time. As someone once said about the sick relationshiop between Obama and the GOP, "They're just not that into you". Obama needas to cut out this bipartisan crap. It isn't making either side respect him.

[MadBadger]

24. I would agree with you cali, if it werent televised.

But because it is, I'm not so sure this isnt a good idea.

[geek tragedy]

25. The Republicans won't show up.

Why would they?

[Pirate Smile]

26. They've been screaming for transparency and he's giving it to them. They back out then it shows

they aren't serious, don't care about solving problems and were just lying.

He's trying to take back the PR battle which should give cover to the Dems in Congress to pass the Senate Bill with the sidecar.

It will also show how their solutions don't work and explain why the Bill includes what it does.

[bigtree]

27. maybe he's fishing for support for whatever they can salvage together

. . . before lining up behind whatever our majority can ram through.

[undeterred]

28. It should take less than a half hour to hear Republican ideas.

Tort reform; Don't get sick; Die quickly; no socialist takeover.

Half a minute, at most.

[quiet.american]

29. Or... has anyone stopped to think that "bipartisanship" is NOT the endgame.

Look at this within the context of the WH's latest offensive to expose the blatant hypocrisy and "bring-it-all-to-a-standstill-to-hurt-Obama" GOP strategies.

Republicans claim the president has not listened to their ideas, and laughably that they have the "better solutions" for everything.

They've also whined and lied about there not being any "transparency" from the WH.

So, the WH says, alright -- kill two birds with one stone. We'll invite the GOP before the C-Span cameras to explain to the public their "brilliant" ideas on healthcare, and why even though some of these ideas, and adaptations of these ideas, were included in the bills, they still voted against them, and will still refuse to vote for the same ideas they claim are the better solutions. Further, we will expose the GOP "brilliant ideas" on healthcare to be the old reliable "privatize Medicare and Medicaid" canard that the public already resoundingly rejected.

The phrase, "backed into a corner" comes to mind as far as the GOP's options on this.

[TCJ70]

30. By directly comparing and contrasting the views of our representatives...

...live, on television, Obama is providing a great opportunity to bring quite a few things about those elected officials to light. This is a good thing.

[KonaKane]

33. I am saddened that I voted for a masochist.

I really thought I was helping to elect a fighter, who would push our agenda to the front now that we had power. I'm now watching that power edge ebb away, and wondering if Obama will soon be serving the GOP their breakfast soon, too.

[donheld]

35. People said the same thing before he met with Repubicans

Then cheered when he finished schooling them.

[indy legend]

36. the only problem is

republican voters won't know he schooled them because when he starts handing the GOP their ass, Fox News will cut away and explain to the morons watching that network what is " really "happening. Since all these idiots get every thought they have ever had from Fox they will still believe the GOP is fighting to save Americans from this "socialist, communist, marxist, kenyon dictator" and his "take over" of the health care system. Then once again they will line up to vote against their own best interest cause that's what uninformed idiots do. I have no doubt President Obama will school these fools. I just know the ass clowns who vote for these people either won't know or won't care.