Today, Congressional Democrats and Republicans — at the invitation of President Barack Obama — will come together for what has been billed as a bipartisan health care summit. The American people expect that this will be an opportunity for their elected representatives to sit at the same table and find a way forward, together, to address a top national concern — all televised live on C-SPAN. The president himself said that participants would discuss “all the best ideas” to develop a health care reform plan.
It has become disappointingly clear, however, that the White House is more interested in playing politics than in fulfilling its promise of bipartisanship.
This week, the president released a plan crafted behind closed doors that could be rammed through Congress using a partisan maneuver called “reconciliation.” Under the reconciliation process — which was not meant to be used for major legislation restructuring one-sixth of our economy — the president would be able to proceed without the support of any Republicans or even the moderates in his own party.
This approach not only torpedoes the spirit of a bipartisan summit, it is nothing more than a repeat of last year’s attempt to push through an unpopular and far-reaching health care bill on a strictly partisan basis. That plan was soundly rejected by the American people as they learned about all the sweetheart deals like the “Cornhusker Kickback” and other provisions that would have raised premiums, raised taxes and cut Medicare.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the White House or Congressional Democrats are listening.
Far from a meeting of the minds, this summit is shaping up to be little more than a photo op to unveil the White House’s latest backroom deal.
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