Thursday, February 25, 2010

Health Care Summit Shows GOP Obstruction

I've watched all of the health care summit so far.We have Democrats often saying "we're close" to agreement, and Republicans saying the opposite, or not agreeing.


And I don't intend to live blog the entire day's telecasts, but John McCain [The Washington Post's The Fix agreed later in the day...] finally got to talk and failed to rise above the kind of snippy partisanship that was and continues to be his downfall.

Democrats should just use reconciliation and adopt their already approved bills, because Republicans do not want national health care reform.

A late afternoon observation: Can you imagine George W. Bush having called, or moderated, this kind of discussion?

10 comments:

Anon Jim said...

James - not sure what you mean by the Dems saying "we're close" - is that with other Dems or The Republicans?

If you say the Republicans, I don't see how they could be close when they have been shut out of the behind closed door negotiations for the last year.

The Republicans want reform, just not what is being shoved down their throats by Pelosi, Reid, Obama, et al.

James Rowen said...

Close with Republicans, whose many items and amendments have already been accepted in the billsd already passed.

Anonymous said...

Republicans don't want the current bill - neither do the people who elect our representatives

James Rowen said...

To Anon: Republicans cannot expect the Democrats to toss out bills they have passed.

Anon Jim said...

What is going to be "tossed out" is the vast majority of Democrats up for re-election this year.

Helen Bushnell said...

Yesterday there was a virtual march on Washington. People from all over the country called their Senators and Representatives. An amazing number of people participated, especially from some not so blue states.

I think that you should talk to a mother who can't get her kid in to see the doctor even though she HAS insurance before you talk about what Americans do or do not want.

Anon Jim said...

Good stuff from the TimesOnline . . .

It was mainly an opportunity to see how many conciliatory-looking poses Obama could strike while listening to his Republican opponents explain why the entire first year of his administration has been a gigantic waste of time, and why the telephone directory-sized health Bills produced by both the Democrat-controlled House and Senate should be fed into a shredder the size of Connecticut, before they . . . well, no one seems to know exactly what these vast pieces of legislation would do.

Except that it won’t be good, because the US Congress generally only does expensive and complicated.


The full article:
Try to stay awake

Anon Jim said...

And hey Helen, if you can't get your kid into see a Doctor now, how exactly do you think it is going to be under Obamacare?

For example, have you ever been to the DMV and seen that model of bureaucratic efficiency in "action"?

enoughalready said...

To Anon Jim: The New Deal was "expensive and complicated" and worked out pretty well, helping to create the thriving middle class the GOP has done so much to destroy in the past thirty years. And I think voters might just remember such recent history.

Anon Jim said...

Facinating video of commentary on reconcillation by Democrats:

Senate Democrats On Reconciliation

Ohh how the times have changed.