Regardless of the obvious, Pres. Obama is going to re-engage by inviting Republicans to come into the room with their ideas on health care, with Kathleen Sebelius offering the following assessment, via HuffPost's Sam Stein:
Sebelius said that the president views the bipartisan meeting as a needed pivot to move reform forward. Asked if he will expedite the legislative process following his various sit-downs with congressional Republicans, she replied: "I certainly think so. I think he sees this as a step to actually accelerating the process forward. He wants to move forward. He wants a bill at his desk and he sees this as kind of closing the loop and let's go." ...
Once again, Obama's people are assuming Republicans want to play along. That Pres. Obama has the clout or they care enough about his charm to join in. It's certainly not his power to punish that bothers them, because he won't wield it. Reconciliation is something Obama won't consider.
Democrats didn't have to end up here. The solution was always a short list of health care specifics like portability, importation of drugs, anti-trust elements, as well as pre-existing condition exemptions as a stand alone beginning for health care.
But because of the lack of Democratic leadership, which includes a lack of will to use reconciliation, but also the craftiness to pull together a bill that had a simple way forward, Republicans are in a tremendous position. It's a political gift if they're smart enough to accept it, though there's no indication they're willing to be opportunistic if it's seen to benefit Obama. Though if you listened to "Morning Joe" on Monday, an alternate universe if ever there was one, Mr. Scarborough posited that Republicans were never offered a way into the debate, which is absolutely untrue.
Someone needs to keep people like Peggy Noonan and Steve Forbes away from Joe, because he starts saying things when the Establishment folk come around that make him sound like he's been wound.
This latest bipartisanship surge from the Obama crew is vintage David Plouffe, getting everyone in the room so that blame or credit is shared, with a new narrative able to be crafted afterward. But also showing his candidate in the light that got him elected, bipartisan Obama, the guy with no ideology. Not that has helped him so far, because leadership by its very nature requires a point of view and an ideological north so you have some place to begin, not to mention a passionate core people judge worth trusting, as they did during the election season. That is so way back when.
Though some still just do not understand or won't accept the basic sincerity of Obama's true political nature, which is always to craft a deal between two sides, no compass offered by the boss. Only one reason Republicans who say Pres. Obama hasn't been bipartisan should lose their pundit license.
Whereas deal making is always part of the political process, leadership is the jump, starting with the reality that Democratic policy ideas on health care are better, because that's a simple fact, except when Democrats don't make it simple, as they did with the health care bill that was loaded with everything but competition. The trick of the craft in the end to find Democratic ideals Republicans will buy. If they won't, then pushing them through in a marketable way that voters can understand is actually giving them something better than what they've got. However, this requires passion on policy so voters can see it's something worth accepting, instead of acquiescence for the sake of something hobbled together.
And as much as bipartisanship may save health care and give Obama his "win," it also straps him into a kumbaya position, as you can't offer a hand then get rough when Republicans won't take it. Though that's not a worry for Republicans who have never feared Obama's leadership.
Besides, it's not like the Republican base is up for it, with any nod to health care or the Democrats giving more ammunition to Tea Party candidates, who are already pressing Republicans very hard.
Taylor Marsh is a political analyst out of Washington, D.C.
Follow Taylor Marsh on Twitter: www.twitter.com/taylormarsh
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President Obama has all the cards. For instance, House Republican
President Obama has said that he will go line by line and ask Republican
That simple fact, in and of itself, explains the current situation in Congress, as well as the way that the Democrats govern.
People always point to Bush getting things done with 52 or 53 votes in the Senate, and narrow majorities in the House for all those years, but fail to acknowledg
The framers of the Constituti
If they had something they wanted to strip the government of doing, be it privatizin
So the idea that Obama is just dumb and doesn't understand that bipartisan
Second theory, follow the money.
In reality, democrats and Obama are corrupt purchased agents of corporate America. They don't really want to pass any of this legislatio
Hence, Rahm getting so angry and insulting the progressiv
the appearance of an ineffectiv
and most people are burnt out on the process. A health care debate redux could hurt the Democratic Party even more. The proposed Senate bill would be shoddy legislatio
Personally
As for the whole health care debate "making (you) sick," Manx, that's a great way to put it. It's hard to fathom how Democrats have let the debate get so out of hand, but they certainly have.
The problem with Obama's continued approach is that there is nothing in it for Republican
That said, who knows, maybe Obama will get Republican
One thing is for sure, spending all this time on health care to come up empty is a very bad outcome and a huge "win" for the right, something I sure don't want to happen.
If you want to see health care enacted into law, regular citizens should take action and sign this petition at
http://www
Thank you.