Tony Perkins Washington Update
Now that Republicans have had a chance to sleep on it House leaders have come to the conclusion that a nationally televised health care summit might not be such a good idea after all--particularly if the centerpieces are two fundamentally flawed plans that the GOP played no role in shaping.
In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel yesterday Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) stood their ground saying that the Republicans would only take part in the meeting if the Majority Party agreed to scrap the original bills and start over.
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... the letters states. Bipartisanship is not writing proposals of your own behind closed doors then unveiling them and demanding Republican support.
As Rep. Boehner points out Republicans deserve to set some parameters for this discussion--namely that their involvement is genuine. If the President wont give the GOP a seat at the table for some honest bargaining then what does the American public have to gain from this charade? Nothing but another dose of bad medicine. Given the track record of the Democratic leadership Republicans are right to be cautious. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) would like nothing better than to trap the GOP into a defensive posture on national television.
In a statement about the Boehner-Cantor letter White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to turn a new page on reform. Hes open to including any good ideas that stand up to objective scrutiny. What he will not do however is walk away from reform Gibbs said.
In other words the President will only have the discussion on his terms meaning that the February 25 meeting would be less about solutions than showmanship. Despite what the White House is planning this shouldnt be a contest of who can be most artful in the public arena.
At its core this is a clash of worldviews that will only move forward with full cooperation and involvement from both parties. For the President that means that true bipartisanship should be the first priority--not a last resort.
