Obama Won't Drop Potential Use Of Reconciliation On Health Care

President Obama wants to keep the option of using reconciliation to pass health care reform despite calls from Republican lawmakers that he agree to drop the parliamentary maneuver as a "good faith" gesture" before their bipartisan health care summit.

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that Republicans coming to the West Wing for the much-anticipated February 25 meeting would be better off arriving "without preconditions." Asked whether Obama would commit to not using reconciliation -- which would allow aspects of health care legislation to be considered in the Senate by an up-or-down vote -- Gibbs replied:

The president is not going to eliminate things based on preconditions. And if that's one of their preconditions, the president doesn't agree to limiting the way we are going to discuss this.

The day before, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) penned a letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel expressing their reluctance to participate in the health care summit and asking that ground rules be set before talks begin. Among those rules: agreeing to not use reconciliation to make amendments to the Senate health care bill.

"Eliminating the possibility of reconciliation would represent an important show of good faith to Republicans and the American people," the two GOP leaders wrote.

Both Boehner and Cantor pushed for Obama to scrap the legislative language in its entirety and start the process over from scratch.

During a surprise appearance before the White House press corps, President Obama was asked whether he could live with bipartisanship by this definition. He could not.

"I am going to be starting from scratch in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote these goals," he said. "What I will not do, what I don't think makes sense... will be another year of partisan wrangling around these issues, another six months, or eight months, or nine months worth of hearings in every single committee in the House and Senate in which there is a lot of posturing... Let's get the relevant parties together... My hope is we can find enough overlap that we can say, 'This is the right way to move forward," even if we don't get every single idea that I want."

Comments

[JerryAguy]

06:17 PM on 02/10/2010

Using reconciliation should make it easier to undo after Nov.

[RogHol]

02:45 AM on 02/11/2010

Sorry, your Nov. won,t come...

[JerryAguy]

08:21 AM on 02/11/2010

Well it's come around once a year since I've been around. I think wishful thinking is what your doing, it's fine there's no law against dreaming. The difference is I'm looking forward to it and you are not.

[CTtransplant]

04:07 PM on 02/10/2010

Bottom line? Kick the Repubs to the curb, and forge ahead!

Pass Medicare for all through reconciliation! Then it's all taken care of simply and expeditiously.

[meko]

04:07 PM on 02/10/2010

It worked for SCHIPP. All you need are 50 senators.

[CTtransplant]

04:54 PM on 02/10/2010

So true, meko! Easiest solution...and denies the Repubs the opportunity to create drama where there should be none!

[Whinger]

03:53 PM on 02/10/2010

Just like the guy who had his arm bitten off by a shark, he still feeds them!

Some folk never learn!

[gimiesome]

02:35 PM on 02/10/2010

It looks like there all in the same car,and the democrats don,t want to
change anything ether.they just want to say,
WE WERE IN THE BACK SEAT,WE WEREN'T DRIVING

[graciesgra]

03:35 PM on 02/10/2010

Gee, you already posted this about ten minutes ago. Can't you come up with anything new? And BTW, the words are: "they're" not "there".....and "don't" not "don,t" and "either" not "ether"

[dxz]

10:16 AM on 02/10/2010

Dear Mr President
Thanks for inviting us to the table. We welcome this new era of bipartisanship. Now that we notice that you are taking us serious, we would like to propose good faith requests that will definitely facilitate our cooperation. We suspect you would not scrap the bill altogether (even though we proposed it...you see ..you never know); but we are encouraged by the fact that you did not consider single payer and you allowed Lieberman to remove Public Option. Furthermore, Ben Nelson helped drop the anti-trust exemption. If you drop the provision to insure 33 million uninsured, then we can start talking. However, you can seal the deal quicker by giving the bill to Aetna or Cigna to re-draft or better still to our Senator DeMint. And of course you have to promise not to modify their revisions. There it is....minor conditions and voila we can start working together in this new era of bi-partisanship.

[batguano]

10:24 AM on 02/10/2010

Excellent! Bipartisanship in its finest most noble form.

[graciesgra]

03:36 PM on 02/10/2010

I wonder if Queen Sarah would "get this"?

[batguano]

10:11 AM on 02/10/2010

Yeah, right! Lock yourself into taking a knife to a gun-fight and be persuaded by your opponents! Just look at the obstructionist hacks trying to eliminate reconciliation (as well as every meaningful reform) from the dialogue and debate -- Lieberman, Boehner and Cantor -- and you know reconciliation is the right way to go to pass REAL HCR! If this Prez would take reconciliation off the table (the same table he took Single-Payer from) he will prove himself totally irrelevant, weak beyond repair and a one-term failure, instead of the strong leader and visionary he sold himself to be. It is time for Obama to make up his mind what kind of Prez he wants to be, what his legacy is to be, a timid corporate shill, guided by the Chicago gang led by Emanuel (he should fire all of them!) or the real-deal new-direction inspiration (and take inspiration and guidance from Dean, Greyson, Kucinich, & other true Progressive leaders) that can not only inspire, but actually inform and LEAD! Time to chose Mr Prez.

[Jevad]

12:13 PM on 02/10/2010

I am for Single Payer and for Public Option, and although we may be angry that this bill doesnt include them there are a few facts that you must remember before you denegrate the President.

1. Single Payer would never have lasted out of ANY Committee, much less a cloture vote, or into any of the bills - too many Republicans dressed in Demicrats clothing.
2. Public Option (or even the PUBIC option as noted by some of the Teabaggers) would never have made it past a cloture vote... Again sadly it takes 60 votes in the Senate, LIEberman takes too much $$ from the Health Lobbyists in his state. not to mention Landreau and Nelson.
3. Reconcilliation would not have been applicable for most of the Health Care Reform now in the bill, but it MAY be applicable for some of the fixes to make it better (but sadly not all - debate about Public Option could be done this way)

It was SMART of the president to KNOW all of this and not fight (and lose) for these things KNOWING that it was a battle he couldnt win. (I could care less about his "Chicago advisors" but my guess is they also knew this as well).

[meko]

03:58 PM on 02/10/2010

Budget reconcilliation doesn't have to apply to all of the bill. Medicare expansion can be done through it, that's how SCHIPP was created. The excise tax can be eliminated through it, that's how the Bush tax cuts were enacted.

It does not take 60 votes.

Part of the problem was that the President refused to articulate a vision. Party leadership refused to have consequences for those who don't support the party. Lieberman is still chair of homeland security. Rahm is still defending Blanche Lincoln, even after yesterday's filibuster vote. Why should the corporate sellouts change if the White House will always support them?

[Jevad]

12:20 PM on 02/10/2010

I guess added to my point, What could the President have done or said to get LIEberman to VOTE for a bill with Public Option, that he vowed publically and more Privately to filibuster against??

Play this out a bit..... Would you want to see our President try to debate a lowly senator to vie for his vote - only to be rebuffed?

Why would LIEberman change his stance - it made him look stronger, (on par with President), got him Richer from his Lobbyists, and would have gauranteed him a victory in 2010 with the Teabaggers coming out in force.

Think of the field day the Republicans would have had saying how weak our President is!! Its a battle that couldnt have been won.

[exF14RIO]

01:55 PM on 02/10/2010

It's been amazing that the Dems, with all their advantages, control of both Houses and the WH, were unable to get HCR passed. Maybe it's a sign... of how badly the 2,700 page bill really is. A "do-over" is probably in order. But I though "jobs" was the #1 priority now...? All this HCR won't do us a hill of beans if we have massive unemployment.

[marxc2]

09:43 AM on 02/10/2010

Go ahead and jump, Dude.

[gingrich2012]

09:40 AM on 02/10/2010

There are 8 incumbent Demo Senators that are trailing in the polls. Another 2 are within margin of error. Would they risk losing any more support when the vast majority want nothing to do with this bill? I dont think so

[meko]

03:59 PM on 02/10/2010

They ran left to get the votes, then they governed right to get the money. Now they have nowhere to go to get more votes and the Republicans won't give them cover on the money.

[Patriotallday]

09:38 AM on 02/10/2010

Reid and Pelosi know the health care bill is dead. Obama is grandstanding for his liberal base. The longer Obama and the Demos talk about health care instead of JOBS and the massive national debt, the more seats they will lose in November. China is slowly reducing their U.S. debt holdings and we are in for a hyper-inflation shock very soon as the federal government will be forced to raise the interest paid out on our (worthless) bonds to attract buyers.

[meko]

04:02 PM on 02/10/2010

The President fights against the liberal base. He sends out Rahm to scream obscenities at them when they try to hold corporate sellouts accountable.

He's trying to impress you by doing it? Did it work? Because it's not helping with the base. Evidently, "Who cares about the left, where else are they gonna go?" didn't work in Massachusetts.

[gingrich2012]

09:33 AM on 02/10/2010

It would surprise me if Harry Reid could get 50 votes in this environment. Dont think it would work. Harry knows what the polls are showing

[isis]

09:26 AM on 02/10/2010

NO vouchers. That is the next GOP idea--vouchers to purchase private insurance.

[meko]

04:03 PM on 02/10/2010

That's what the subsides to pay for the mandates ARE. That's already in the bill.

The GOP want to end our ability to sue insurers for wrongful denials of care that lead to disability or death (tort reform). They want the states that have the weakest consumer protection to be the enforcers of consumer protection across the nation (shopping across state lines).

But even if they get it, they won't vote for this bill. Mandates are unpopular with the left and the right. They are not going to give the Democrats cover on mandates without the public option.

[youreout]

09:25 AM on 02/10/2010

ie..."im not serious about taking anything from the republicans, just as it's been all year. i'm still campaigning and really don't have a clue what i'm doing here..., but this is alot of fun..thanks 1/2 of America...for believing i could actually perform at this job without having a shread of experience..hahaha..."

[Peter007]

09:06 AM on 02/10/2010

Reconciliation? Wow...Is this guy smoking something and lost his memory?

Game's over. Democrats lost. Look at the score. Time for a new game. Get in touch with reality Mr. President.!

[shellshock30]

09:16 AM on 02/10/2010

He's offering you idiots a seat at the table but that's not enough. The ONLY thing you guys want is your power back....ain't gonna happen.

[Peter007]

10:15 AM on 02/10/2010

Game over. Dems lost.

[den1953]

09:01 AM on 02/10/2010

Yes Mr President learn from the Republicans you never take anything off the table.

[kevin j williams]

08:51 AM on 02/10/2010

he wont use reconcilation hes a big wuss

[shellshock30]

09:18 AM on 02/10/2010

It says he WON'T drop reconsiliation....try re-reading the headline! What the hells wrong with you kats on HP these days?