President to Host Bipartisan Health Care Reform Meeting Later This Month

Why is it that taxpaying, law abiding citizens don't deserve affordable health care? Will the Republicans deal with this issue? They've done a darn good job for 8 years of trying to kill off the middle class by outsourcing and a 100% increase in insurance policies.

There's been too many lies told by the Republicans about health care reform. Isn't it ironic that fat, ol' Rush bestowed praise upon his health care in Hawaii when Hawaii has state funded health care? They've had it for forty years. Is it socialism or is it spin?

Is he going to invite Dr. Flowers or just have her arrested again.

"both parties generally support opening up state borders to purchase health insurance"

It is hard to figure out what this means since state borders do not currently stop anyone from purchasing health insurance.

Do you mean that they support eliminating state regulation of health insurance, replacing it with federal regulation? Kind of sounds like thats where you're going with this, but its unclear.

At 36%, socialism is now more popular than the congressional health insurance reform plan.

Obama made a conscious decision to not allow single-payer advocates a seat at the table, and now he is the beneficiary of all the Republican good will that decision gained him.

Obama allowed the very popular public option to be stripped out of the health insurance reform plan, and is harvesting a windfall of Republican support as a result.

Just think how much more Republican support he can gain by eliminating the few popular components that are left!

I love how Obama pretends like last year never happened.
mick | Feb 8, 2010 8:48:04 AM

You mean the unprecidented number of hours of floor debate and amendment broadcast, the hours of committee meetings broadcast, the release of numerous markups and drafts, the town halls meetings in almost every district? That last year?

Can you cite ONE major bill, ever, in the history of our country that has had a more transparent process? In documented reality please. A quite simple request - name a bill that has EVER had a more open process.

Posted by: jhw539 | Feb 8, 2010 10:18:37 AM
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Excellence isn't enough for the 'perfect' Republican right - they can't recognize it because they're too used to the complete deceit of the last administration.

This probaby just a Presidential trap to lay the health care disaster at the feet of the GOP.. and it should work.. let's remember that a unified Democratic party could have passed it without Republican support.

I already have one teenager so this is profoundly irritating. Obama wants his overpriced bill, my daughter wants her over-priced purse. Just when you think the subject has been put to rest, it rears its ugly head again, and again, and again..the deal-making, the promises, the "it's not FAIR!" and the "you just don't get it!"

AHHHHH! Both of you, go to your rooms!

From looking at the bills I think there are more proposals that Republicans and Democrats agree on than what people realize. While the nitty-gritty details have to be worked out, both parties generally support opening up state borders to purchase health insurance , some tort reform, reforming the insurance industry (e.g. bans on pre-existing conditions). I'll be interested to see the specific proposals during the reform meeting. Here's a collection of videos I've found helpful on healthcare reform:

By the way, I work for the health video website (please drop us a line).

jhw, So I am perfectly correct if I embarrass you for defending Obama's statement that the health care bill would let you keep your dr. and insurance, remember you read the bill, you know everything thats in it and time and time again you said people were stupid and wrong for thinking otherwise then Obama himself comes on national tv and admits repubs were right all along and the bill would have broken that promise. Yes, he finally admitted it but only after he knew the bill as written wouldn't pass. It's hard to talk with those on the left that blindly follow Obama and proclaim his word as truth. Oh, by the way, he even admitted he didn't keep his promise for the debate to be on c-span yet you keep defending that too!

jhw, okay so when your little ones say or do something wrong you are going to embarrass them. Thats what you said, right? Your poor kids!

I understand that Betty White has been rehired from her super bowl stint to provide a commercial during the "super bowl" of health care reform..

she will be getting ready for a cage match..as she stands in the ring/cage she yells out that i will fight anyone who is going to take aware my medicare..

This is all crazy we won't get a Health Care Reform maybe someday.

Obama explained that lawmakers were closer together than the public realized on the stimulus package but warned of pitfalls if Congress and the White House don't work together. Again, according to participants in the meeting, Obama said this about rising above typical partisan differences: "We're all political animals, we've all got political bases," the president is reported to have said. "If we don't get this done we (the Democrats) could lose seats and I could lose re-election. But we can't let people like Rush Limbaugh stall this. That's how things don't get done in this town." -taken from a Fox News website article in 2009.

Does this paragraph sound like a man who wants to be bipartisan? Was this the same man who, just a few days ago, "ripped" the Republicans at their retreat because of THEIR partisanship, and putting their own re-election concerns in front of "good policy"? No. This paragraph doesn't show that man, it shows the REAL Obama. It shows the man who thinks his position goes much further than being President, and will do whatever it takes to get what HE wants for re-election purposes or the opportunity to say "I won" again. His agendas, policies, practices, etc. aren't about the American people...they are all about him and his political party. I just hope other folks are seeing this and seeing HIM for what he really is...an inexperienced, self-absorbed, partisan elitist.

Obama broke his promise to have the health care reform debate broadcast on CSPAN. Deals were brokered behind closed doors between Nancy Pelosi and a choice few democrats. Senators from select states were bought off with OUR MONEY for their votes. This was the most corrupt example of "bipartisanship" that we have seen yet in modern time.

I don't think this PR bipartisan conference is going anywhere. Dems are still reeling from Massachusetts. Voters have spoken. They don't like the congress's health care legislation or the behind the scenes, backroom manner that they created it. Are they serious about extending a hand? Let's see what they offer on tort reform.

I love how Obama pretends like last year never happened.
mick | Feb 8, 2010 8:48:04 AM

You mean the unprecidented number of hours of floor debate and amendment broadcast, the hours of committee meetings broadcast, the release of numerous markups and drafts, the town halls meetings in almost every district? That last year?

Can you cite ONE major bill, ever, in the history of our country that has had a more transparent process? In documented reality please. A quite simple request - name a bill that has EVER had a more open process.

Bipartisan? To discuss what? Government run health care? Are these people nuts?
Manitu | Feb 8, 2010 6:00:53 AM

Are you nuts? Please cite the proposal - documented in REALITY, that has Government run health care. All that has been proposed is a pretty weak health insurance regulation reform. Even Medicare isn't government run health care (its just an insurance program).

They want tort reform--but Dems are in bed with lawyers, so that won't happen.
kyle | Feb 8, 2010 8:57:40 AM

SPECIFICALLY, what tort reform do you want? Seriously, try to come up with some tort reform that isn't already fully implemented in the states that want it (Texas actually wrote tort reform into it's state constitution).

Why are liberals so Condescending? It's really interesting.
wow | Feb 8, 2010 12:15:04 AM

It is difficult not to be condescending when faced with 'arguments' that are contradictory and obviously wrong. I apologize for not being of the 'delicate butterfly' self esteem generation - but when someone says something stupid, they should be called on it and they should be embarrassed.

I don't always agree with the Republicans but I'm thankful they will never agree with ObamaCare as it is now.

No deals with unions, while ignoring other Americans with the same plan.
They want tort reform--but Dems are in bed with lawyers, so that won't happen.

Stay firm Republicans.
Let Obama say on TV he is OK with those sweetheart deals.
Make him admit again, that sneaky amendments may have caused us to lose our doctors.

I love how Obama pretends like last year never happened.
Now all of a sudden it's important for people to see the process on C-Span (one debate), ignoring all the backdoor deals already made.

Since Obama refuses to start over I'm assuming all the sweetheart deals will remain--he just doesn't get it.

I thought Obammy was going to focus laser-like on jobs. He wasn't going to rest until everyone who wanted a job had one. Remember what Biden said about that three letter word..J-O-B-S...J-O-B-S...J-O-B-S

The government is already fully engaged in the health care business.. this idea that private industry controls and pays for it is a bit antiquated.. I wished some guru would add up the dollars spent each year by the State and Federal government.. direct and indirect.. that goes to insurance and medical..

Why wasn't this part of the health care blueprint last year? Engage the Republicans, express outrage at their certain refusal to either meet with Obama or offer any bipartisan ideas, then sell your own bill to the public.

Bipartisan? To discuss what? Government run health care? Are these people nuts?

thanks for the information, your blog is very good and interesting

It was a sleazy deal.

Posted by: wow | Feb 8, 2010 1:45:29 AM
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What is your proof of this?

It was a sleazy deal.

Posted by: Betts W | Feb 8, 2010 12:21:23 AM

Louisiana wasn't a 'backroom' deal in any way. Research it.

I say "NO!!!!!!!!"

Any Democrats who want re-election and all Republicans must demand a 6-month moratorium on this subject, and a complete restart only after that.

There is only one subject on the table now for February: We have a dangerous crisis of insatiable government expansion and spending that has created NO private sector jobs.

Did you read USAToday's report back in December about the incredible growth in highly-paid federal workers?

"The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available. [Less than 2,000 grew to 10,000!!!]

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000." [one person grew to 1700!!!]

And these are numbers only as of last June. It doesn't count Obama's 2% raise (!!!) for federal workers and the continuing engorgements built into this administration's spending bills.

The buzzer for Obamacare went off already. Time's Up for this monstrous contraption, and the hideous manner in which the president and Congress condescended to inflict it upon this nation.

Obama has squandered a full year as America slides toward collapse.

We must insist that our leaders address our economic and jobs crisis first, foremost, and NOW.

If obama sincerely wants to pass health care reform, does that mean he will agree to scrap all of the back room deals made for Nebraska, Louisiana, the unions and some we probably haven't heard about?

Oh, yes,and how about the members of congress, Dems and GOPers? Will they agree to give up their premium HC benefits?

And the most important of all, what about TORT reform; without it, everyone loses.

Does anyone think, with the bipartisan meeting being telecast, we will finally see our leaders agree on something positive for us,and not just for themselves?

Republicans are so far off in their own paranoid fantasy land it is difficult to really debate them. Not only is the filibuster proof majority shown to be a lie just by the number of successful filibusters, but even it only existed for about 6 months.
Posted by: jhw539
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Have you seen the WaPo op ed Why are liberals so Condescending? It's really interesting.

Obama should meet with legal American citizens (not hand-picked). It's too early to look at mid-term elections; however, the elite, liberals and biased media will create some disaster to make Obama look like a hero,the media will showcase with their award winning theatrical news anchors, and the sheep will vote accordingly. God help us!

I think instead of having "leaders" from Congress meet with him, President Obama ought to have regular citizens, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, meet directly with him to write the general policies that need to be passed.

Find out what folks want and don't want. Congressmen don't seem to have a very good grasp of what is needed or wanted; the "people" do.

Mandating the entire population into financial servitude is an idea whose time hasn't, fortunately, come.
Susie | Feb 7, 2010 11:05:52 PM

Unless you live in reality and have the barest knowledge of the fundamentals of human civilization and social structures, in which case you realize mandated servitude is the foundation of all modern governance systems (an obvious and old idea at the time of the Found Fathers).

Of course Obama would suddenly now start talking bipartisanship double talk - he just lost his filibuster proof majority with Scott Brown winning the Senate seat in Mass. He is all about power and control.
EPU | Feb 7, 2010 10:16:43 PM

Right - that "filibuster proof majority" - reliant on Joe "Vote for McCain" Lieberman who ran AGAINST a Democrat in his last election, was OBVIOUSLY not filibuster proof. Or we'd have health care reform, a stimulus large enough to have spurred more hiring, and Guantanamo Bay closed. At least.

Republicans are so far off in their own paranoid fantasy land it is difficult to really debate them. Not only is the filibuster proof majority shown to be a lie just by the number of successful filibusters, but even it only existed for about 6 months.

After the great showing Obama had being grilled (sans teleprompter or notes) by the Republican caucus on live TV (well, except Fox - who actually cut away from Obama taking questions to try to limit the damage he was doing to their party image), there is little downside to putting Republicans on air as often as possible and forcing then to show their command (or lack thereof) of facts and real policy live.

They want to whine that the health care reform debate wasn't open enough when it was the most open legislative process ever documented in US history (based on reality - hours broadcast, drafts released, town halls, etc) - fine. Open meetings, invite the Republicans, and make them put up something other than their mindless no's and record shattering number of filibusters. Or be shown for the inept leaders the 8 years under Bush showed them to be.

Of course Obama would suddenly now start talking bipartisanship double talk - he just lost his filibuster proof majority with Scott Brown winning the Senate seat in Mass. He is all about power and control.

After losing Mass. he is suddenly in a position where he lost some of the superpower he had, but he is a control freak. Now he's trying to play the "bipartisanship" card to continue controlling us off the cliff with health care takeover.

Jobs were the most important thing for Obama for .... 30 seconds? It is all about his legacy, and he cares about nothing else.

Will he be serving sodium-heavy hot dogs and calorie-busting pizza? With Janet Napalitano at the Super Bowl party, the WH chefs will have to make up another batch for the meeting.

I wondewr if they will be having a beer at the meeting. He should of had the talks that were going on behind closed doors when they were writing the initial mess. It is quite funny though since he has lost majority in the senate how he now wants to invite the other party. They should tell him to kiss their a..

It will be interesting to see what happens in this meeting given the very light health reform package of the Republicans and so much previous effort toward the fear campaigns promoted by Republican strategists who seemed far more interested in the failure of the Democrats than contributing to meaningful reform.

Prior to the game playing, bipartisan activities were ongoing and much of this could have prevented the slimy dealings with many of the Democratic senators who were interested in manipulating the reforms toward their own narrow goals.

Hopefully good ideas with real cost control measures and improved access to health care are put forward by the Republicans to complement and balance the reforms of the Democrats. At least now in this forum, any "do nothing" attempts will be seen for what they are.

Great idea. With the cameras rolling, maybe both sides will act like grown-ups. There are probably good ideas on both sides, and if they really care about doing what is right for the country, maybe we can get this health care mess taken care of. I would love to ditch the money hungry insurance companies, and have medicare for all, but I have no hopes for that in the near future. As long as our employers are forced to complete with other countries, who aren't saddled with outrageous insurance costs for their employees, we just can't compete in the global market.

I used to support President Barack Hussein Obama, I really did, but with all due respect, Barack Hussein Obama is just playing games. It's just showmanship, he is grandstanding! Meeting with Republicans on C-Span? News flash, Barack Hussein Obama, the Republicans are already on C-Span! The Republicans have been on C-Span every day, every hour talking about healthcare. We know where they stand, Barack Hussein Obama. We know what their ideas are. Their plan will make healthcare plentiful, affordable and of the highest quality. How about yours, Barack Hussein Obama? You have nothing except a government takeover of healthcare! We know this already. What we don't know is what did Barack Hussein Obama say to Ben Nelson when he asked for the Cornhusker Kickback? What did Barack Hussein Obama say when Mary Landrieu asked for the Louisiana Purchase? What did Barack Hussein Obama say when Andy Stern told Barack Hussein Obama to exempt the SEIU from taxation? What did Barack Hussein Obama say when Bertha Lewis told him to not investigate ACORN's underage prostitution trafficking? We know Barack Hussein Obama acquiesced on all these things, the problem is, had it been on C-Span, we would have known before it became too late. It is time we had a President who isn't playing grandstanding showmanship games, it is time for Palin '12, PUMA!

One can always hope.

Poor Obama.
He tried so hard to sneak Obamacare through before the people were fully awake.
We kept telling him it stunk.
Stunk so bad even the Dems had to be paid to vote for it.
But Obama didn't care how bad it was, didn't care what the people wanted--because OCare is his legacy.

When will the politicians realize they work for us? November?

After the President's Q and A with the Repubs last week I can hardly wait for the encore. Let's get Palin in there for good measure. LOL

And later that day when Obama goes in front of the cameras to boast about his symbolic gesture to include the Republicans--he will in his classic schizophrenic style, compliment them then mock them in the same speech.

Has there ever been a president that rides the fence as much as this one?

Now, having got that out of my system.

I am thrilled at this news. I've been hoping and praying for this to happen since President Obama took office.

I'm taking President Obama's commitment as a valid promise. I'm going to try very hard not to be cynical.

I hope it is broadcast live, because I'm going to park myself in front of the TV if I have to take the whole day off from work.

Oh, please let this happen!

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also issued a supportive statement, saying that Senate Democrats "have promoted the pursuit of a bipartisan approach to health reform from day one."
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Of all the lies told by politicians this year: this one has got to be the winner.....heck it may take the prize for years to come!

Senator Reid: YOU LIE! and lie, and lie, and lie....