Rush Limbaugh warned Republican members of Congress that Obama’s invite to the White House for talks on health care is a trap. Rush is so right!!!
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Barack Obama is planning to host a televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on health care reform.
Politico
Obama Seeks GOP Input on Reform – from FOX News
The Feb. 25 meeting is an attempt to reach across the aisle but not a signal that the president plans to start over, as Republicans have demanded, a White House official said.
“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 with Katie Couric during CBS’s Super Bowl pre-game show Sunday.
Obama said he wants to “look at the Republican ideas that are out there.”
“If we can go, step by step, through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, then, procedurally, there’s no reason why we can’t do it a lot faster the process took last year,” he said.
In a statement, the official said, “What the president will not do is let this moment slip away. He hopes to have Republican support in doing so — but he is going to move forward on health reform.”
Krauthammer: If Dems Didn’t Hear the Rejection of ObamaCare from Mass. then ‘They Need Hearing Aids’
House GOP Responds to Summit Invite
The GOP says they will agree to meet with Obama over the Health Care bill if he agrees to start over from scratch.
The Corner
House GOP Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.) sent White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel a letter regarding the upcoming health-care summit:
Mr. Emanuel:
We welcome President Obama’s announcement of forthcoming bipartisan health care talks. In fact, you may remember that last May, Republicans asked President Obama to hold bipartisan discussions on health care in an attempt to find common ground on health care, but he declined and instead chose to work with only Democrats. Since then, the President has given dozens of speeches on health care reform, operating under the premise that the more the American people learn about his plan, the more they will come to like it. Just the opposite has occurred: a majority of Americans oppose the House and Senate health care bills and want them scrapped so we can start over with a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses.
Just as important, scrapping the House and Senate health care bills would help end the uncertainty they are creating for workers and businesses and thus strengthen our shared commitment to focusing on creating jobs. 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.
You can GO HERE ( The Corner ) to read the rest of the letter .
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Wild Thing’s comment……..
Not a negotiation, just a confab for Hussein to pretend like he gives a damn about working with Republicans.
The GOP had better not get sucked in by Hussein. The legislation IS SUPPOSED TO BE NEGOTIATED IN COMMITTEES.
SEPARATION OF POWERS MEANS THE LEGISLATURE LEGISLATES, NOT THE EXECUTIVE!
Hussein is trying the fascist trick of making the entire process about HIM approving or disapproving. Let’s see some real nut-busting in legislative committees, not a coffee clatch where Hussein the prompter-reading idiot gets to stand over everyone.
GOP: DO NOT FALL FOR THIS STUFF!
“Obama said he wants to “look at the Republican ideas that are out there.”
He just went on air recently and bragged about all the Republican ideas incorporated in the bill. There’s no question in my mind hes never once listened since hes the ‘I Won” man.
The GOP response to this White House should be: “We will be glad to discuss this legislation and the ideas in the proper forum, the forum the Founding Fathers envisioned: the legislature. Thanks for your concerns, and we’ll note them when we meet in committee. Goodbye.”
It is a trap for the republicans. He wants them to take the full blame for the healthcare fiasco. When will he realize that 90% of Americans don’t want socialized healthcare? Sure, we could use some tort reform and getting rid of the preexisting conditions clauses, but other than that, it works pretty good. He’s got people all confused that insurance CEOs take all the money. They don’t. People need to realize that the majority of the money that comes in, goes out in claims, building expenses, utility bills, etc.
There was some legislation a while back where the repubs were invited in to discuss. Steny Hoyer made it clear in the meeting that no changes were to be made. They simply passed the bill around the table for republican fingerprints, then came out touting ‘bi-partisan commitee’. It’s ironic that now the republicans cannot meet with democrats without pre-conditions. Like meeting with N. Korea or Iran. No difference. You need pre-conditions before you talk with communists.
My first thought also Lynn.It is a setup. obama will debate a bit with Repubs and then propose his healthcare plan as a bipartisan bill. It is not really as much a healtcare bill as a govt. power bill. It will give govt. a lot of control over our lives. Sadly, there are enough Repubs unwise enough to fall into obama”s trap.
Lynn, I agree, I think it is a trap too. He wants to be able to say Rep. want it as much as he does. That way when it does not work he will blame the right.
Jim, well said….”You need pre-conditions before you talk with communists.”
Tom, I agree.