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February 25, 2010
The Health Care Summit Or Obama Vs. We The People
Obama's euphemistically named Bipartisan Health Care Summit is just hours away.
A Quick Guide To The Health Care Summit
The Time: The summit will begin at 10:00am Thursday morning and last for 6 hours with a break for lunch.
The Place: The event will be held at Blair House
The Coverage: Live television coverage begins at 9:45am ET on C-SPAN3, C-SPAN.org and C-SPAN Radio
The Attendees: In addition to President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius; lawmakers invited by the White House are:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Illinois)
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)
Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana)
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming)
Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California)
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland)
House Minority Leader John Boehner )R-Ohio)
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-South Carolina)
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Virginia)
Representative Charles Rangel (D-New York)
Representative Dave Camp (R-Michigan)
Representative Henry Waxman (D-California)
Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas)
Representative George Miller (D-California)
Representative John Kline (R-Minnesota)
Representative John Dingell (D-Michigan)
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon)
The White House also asked the top four congressional leaders (Reid, McConnell, Pelosi and Boehner) to invite four more lawmakers each to attend. Those additional attendees are:
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee)
Representative Rob Andrews (D-New Jersey)
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)
Representative Xavier Becerra (D-California)
Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)
Representative Charles Boustany (R-Louisiana)
Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma)
Representative Jim Cooper (D-Tennessee)
Senator Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota)
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona)
Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington)
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia)
Representative Peter Roskam (R-Illinois)
Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York)
Representative Louise Slaughter (D-New York)
Various staff members will be seated around the room behind the lawmakers.
The Agenda:
Opening remarks by the president will be followed by remarks from a Republican chosen by the GOP leadership and a Democrat chosen by that party's leadership. Mr. Obama will then moderate discussion on the following themes:
Controlling Costs - introduced by Mr. Obama
Insurance Reforms - introduced by Ms. Sebelius
Reducing The Deficit - introduced by Mr. Biden
Expanding Coverage - introduced by Mr. Obama
The Menu: Rumor has it the buffet lunch will feature chicken and salmon.
Expected Results: Taxpayer provided chicken and salmon will be consumed.
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Stupak: 15-20 Dems withholding support for White House health plan
There are 15-20 House Democrats who are withholding their support for President Barack Obama's healthcare proposal, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Wednesday.
Stupak led a broad coalition of anti-abortion Democrats in November, demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) include tough abortion restrictions in the lower chamber's legislation lest she lose a chance of passing the bill.
The Michigan Democrat has voiced unhappiness with the president's plan because it upholds the Senate's abortion language, which he says is too loose and could allow federal dollars to pay for abortion procedures.
But Stupak said that the group of 15-20 Democrats oppose it not just because of the abortion provisions.
Asked on Fox News if he thinks the president's fixes will pass the House, Stupak said, "Despite the abortion language, no, there are other problems with this bill...[I have spoken to] probably about 15 or 20 of them in the last 24 hours; they've said there are other problems with this bill."
Stupak's remarks come after House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) Wednesday morning predicted that Democrats would fall 14 votes short of passing the bill.
The House passed its bill in November by a count of 220-215 and even a 15-vote defection would prevent Pelosi from passing the president's plan.
Until Stupak spoke, no Democrat had handicapped the exact vote count on the president's plan. The White House currently wants the House to pass the Senate's original healthcare bill then for both chambers to pass its fixes, with the Senate using the budget reconciliation process.
Stupak said that the group objects to the taxes on healthcare benefits contained in Obama's plan as well as several provisions that are offset until 2018.
In an interview on MSNBC Wednesday morning, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) accused Cantor of "playing games” but did not say whether House Democrats have the votes to pass the president’s fixes.
Clyburn previously predicted that the House would pass the new package by a wider margin than it did its original bill.
Wild Thing's comment......
I hope Stupak sticks with it. I’m not so sure, and I don’t trust him. Both times when I heard him speak at a town hall meeting and one of his phone meetings, you’d think he was ready to jump on the health care wagon. He talks it up pretty good. And when pressed about the abortion issue, he wouldn’t 100% commit.
Dear God please do not let this thing pass, not any part of it.
....Thank you Richard for sending this to me.
Posted by Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 06:40 AM
Comments
It still looks like a trap to blame the Repubs while they ram this through by reconcilliation. Let's not lose sight of the fact that Bernie Sanders' CPC has control of Congress and they got there with the sanction and blessings of the 'Rockefella' Republicans. I don't trust any of them, their mere participation in this photo op for the Soutpiel is unconstitutional. James Clyburn, now there is a wordsmith!!!
Posted by: Jack at February 25, 2010 08:35 AM
I feel like I am watching West Side Story: The Marxist Years!!
Posted by: jan at February 25, 2010 08:44 AM
From what I've been reading this meeting is a 'Play ball with me,obama, or he'll jam the bat up our ass.'
Looks like a CYA deal for obama, if anything goes wrong the Republicans will be the convenient suspect to blame.
The Unions are pushing this. obama belongs to them
they bought him now they own him. Their pensions are in deep trouble and Health Care is one way to bail them out.
If we can defeat this scam it will take care of more than just health care, it will help destroy the unions. That would be a good thing.
Posted by: Mark at February 25, 2010 10:34 AM
Jeff Goldstein at the Protein Wisdom blog has a very brief summary of this farce:
Posted by: Curmudgeon at February 25, 2010 11:32 AM
Calling manure cherry pie doesn't make it any less nasty or taste any better.
Posted by: Anonymous at February 25, 2010 11:40 AM
It's a publicity stunt and a power play by obama. He has much to lose if this bill fails.
Posted by: TomR at February 25, 2010 12:32 PM
Jack, yes it is a trap and no matter what the Republicans do they will of course get slammed.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:46 PM
He had much to lose today period. He appears to be chairing this like the acorn pix we see. Ummmm...Our people are not widgets for the cause. I love how the Rs responded.
Posted by: ja at February 25, 2010 05:48 PM
Jan great analogy.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:51 PM
Mark, well said and so true.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:52 PM
Curmudgeon, thank you for the link and information of a good write up.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:54 PM
Anonymous, DITTO that!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:55 PM
Tom, it sure is. I really think he is going to force this to happen. right out force somehow and I don't know how but I don't trus him, he is so evil.
Posted by: Wild Thing at February 25, 2010 05:59 PM
