Health Care Summit

President Obama wants a summit on health care, and has (finally) invited the Republicans to join in the discussion, supposedly in an attempt at bipartisanship. But is that what this is really about?

The president has already said he does not plan on changing what the Democrats have offered in their bill. He does not plan on starting over. So just what IS the game plan?

It's not a summit. It's a set-up.

I will go on record right here and now - I think the "bipartisan summit" is a sham, and an intentional sham. There will be no real attempt at bipartisanship, and I can almost guarantee that Obama and the Democrats will let Republicans speak, but will refuse to adopt any meaningful Republican ideas.

One of two things will happen:

1) Either the Democrats will reject any meaningful Republican ideas out of hand, and then go forward saying, "Gee, we tried to be bipartisan, but those obstructionist Republicans just would not cooperate." Or...

2) The Democrats will choose some small, meaningless part of a Republican idea and offer to include it if the Republicans will back the Democrat bill. Obviously, the Republicans would be forced to refuse because they really are not getting anything at all. And again the Democrats will go forth and say, "Gee, we tried to be bipartisan. We even offered to adopt part of their plan, but those obstructionist Republicans just would not cooperate."

In other words, it will be business as usual, the same old Chicago-style politics we have been witnessing for a year. The health care summit will only be a bogus attempt to make the Democrats APPEAR to be bipartisan while making the Republicans APPEAR to be obstructionist. But the reverse would actually be the truth.

Suffice it to say that I seriously doubt the Democrats have any intention of seriously listening to, or adopting any Republican ideas to cut health care costs and get more people covered.

Time will tell. But for the last year, the Democrat's idea of "bipartisan" means they write the bill, then Republicans shut up and vote for it. I have a newsflash for the Democrats - that line of thinking is why you are now losing so many Democrat strongholds like Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Bipartisanship means both sides get to provide input and write the bill, so members of both sides can vote for it. It's called compromise. But that is a word that the administration, Pelosi and Reid simply do not understand.

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