Real Negotiations or Presidential Photo Op?
Monday, February 8th, 2010The first reaction I had when I read that President Obama has finally invited Republicans to the White House to talk about health care was “What took you so long?” The next thought I had was whether he’d insist that some of their ideas be included in a health care bill. Anything’s possible but I’ll stay skeptical until there’s proof that this isn’t just a presidential photo-op.
The Feb. 25 meeting’s prospects for success are far from clear. GOP leaders demanded Sunday that Democrats start from scratch, and White House aides said Obama had no plans to do so.
“If we are to reach a bipartisan consensus, the White House can start by shelving the current health spending bill,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio also threw some jabs while accepting Obama’s invitation. He said he was glad the White House “finally seems interested in a real, bipartisan conversation,” adding that Americans have rejected “the job-killing, trillion-dollar government takeover of health care bills passed by the House and Senate.”
Considering the fact that the Democrats’ special interest groups fought for the public option in the Democrats’ bill, I don’t see how a bill passes if it has a number of provisions in it that the Republicans must insist on. The Democrats’ special interest allies will fight against lawsuit abuse reform, which the Republicans must insist on being part health care legislation.
Republicans must insist on that as proof that these negotiations are serious. In fact, the Republican negotiators should present President Obama and congressional Democrats with specific language for lawsuit abuse reform. Republicans should play hardball in insisting on this provision because the American people overwhelmingly support lawsuit abuse reform.
President Obama is already laying out a few pre-conditions for the negotiations:
Asked if he was willing to start from square one, the president said he wants “to look at the Republican ideas that are out there. And I want to be very specific. ‘How do you guys want to lower costs? How do you guys intend to reform the insurance markets so people with preexisting conditions, for example, can get health care?’”
President Obama knows that greater competition and less governmental interference will lower costs. That isn’t opinion. It’s historical fact. (more…)