All of a sudden Obama wants televised ObamaCARE discussions with Republicans and Democrats

obama-doctor-jokerWhy the sudden change Mr. President? Could it be because of Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts destroying your Progressive dream of unchallenged fundamental transformation of America and the health care system? Nah, it couldn’t be that could it? According to Politico, Obama is planning to host a televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on health care reform.

The Feb. 25 meeting is an attempt to reach across the aisle but not a signal that the president plans to start over, as Republicans have demanded, a White House official said.

“I want to come back [after the Presidents Day congressional recess] and have a large meeting — Republicans and Democrats — to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Obama said in an interview with Katie Couric during CBS’s Super Bowl pre-game show Sunday.

Obama said he wants to “look at the Republican ideas that are out there.”

“If we can go, step by step, through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, then, procedurally, there’s no reason why we can’t do it a lot faster the process took last year,” he said.

In a statement, the official said, “What the president will not do is let this moment slip away. He hopes to have Republican support in doing so — but he is going to move forward on health reform.”

Obama first suggested reopening talks with Republicans during his State of the Union address last month, and reiterated the call at a Democratic fundraiser Thursday, but the White House had kept details of his plan under wraps until Sunday.

The idea has been met previously with skepticism by the congressional leaders of both parties. Republicans say they see little room for compromise because the bill should be scrapped, while Democrats argue they have already tried a bipartisan approach, but failed.

But since the Democratic loss in the Massachusetts Senate race, Obama has been forced to rework his legislative strategy – both by striking a more bipartisan tone, and returning to his campaign pledge of providing more transparency. He’s been dogged by questions about why he failed to live up to his campaign promise of televising the health care negotiations on C-SPAN.

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February 7, 2010 · Filed Under ObamaCARE


Comments

  • http://twitter.com/j_gardner John

    forgive me if I am skeptical of the president at this stage. Now that his agenda has gotten its ass kicked he wants to look across the aisle. And please forgive me if I don’t believe he has no idea what the best “republican” (I’d call them logical, but that’s just me) ideas are for reforming our healthcare system.