Health Care Reform Summit - Blair House: Morning Session
Published February 25, 2010, 12:42 pm, CST
by Diane W. Collins
dcollins@marketingweb.com
As a general observation, I would say it appears the President and the Democrats wish to only discuss areas of agreement. If you only discuss agreement you remain in the same position you were in prior to the Summit.
To come to agreement on points of contention you must be willing to discuss areas of disagreement. When these areas have been brought up with specifics as to the bill passed by the Senate, the President scolds, calls it political theater, or in John McCain's case "campaigning." You can't analyze a rose by simply talking about the bloom. You must discuss the thorns. Eric Cantor said it best, ... "in a perfect world..." That's what the Democrats think they can legislate. Utopia can't be legislated.
We'll have to see what happens this afternoon. If the discussion continues with generalities regarding "the bloom" wrapped in emotional stories that tug at all our hearts, without discussing the specifics of the bill, "the thorns" then coming to areas of agreement was never the basis for the Summit. We agreed already on the issues the President and Democrats want to discuss!
So, good job Republicans... Keep the camera on "the thorns." It's the only way the Democrats will drop this bill and start over. However, I doubt the Democrats have any intention of dropping the Senate bill. My belief is they're already working on reconciliation, will pass it first, and then pass the Senate bill. You see, the order in which congress passes bills doesn't matter. It's the order in which the President signs them.
But, let's see what the afternoon brings. Later today, GiftWrappingAir.com will offer further commentary and videos on the Summit. I'll be blogging after the second session this afternoon. See you then.
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