Top congressional Republicans, emerging from a 90-minute meeting with President Obama that side-stepped health care reform, said they may boycott Feb. 25 talks on health care reform.If the Democrats are unwilling to address tort reform and interstate sales of health insurance, two key GOP provisions, then there's no reason to meet because what Obama wants to do has nothing to do with reducing costs or increasing coverage.
"It's going to be very difficult to have bipartisan conversations with regard to a 2,700 page health care bill that the Democrat majority in the House and the Democrat majority in the Senate can’t pass," House Minority Leader John Boehner said. "Why are we going to talk about a bill that can’t pass? It really is time to scrap the bill and start over."
For now, Boehner said House Republicans are only willing to "consider" attending the bi-partisan health care talks at the Blair House, the stately quarters across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
"We’re trying to understand from the White House what we’re trying to accomplish," Boehner said. "We need to know where we’re going to start from.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also left open the possibility of a boycott.
"Listen to the American people," McConnell told reporters gathered just outside the West Wing. "They are overwhelming opposed to the bill that the House and Senate have looked at. What we need to do is start over and go step-by-step."
Asked what Republicans meant by starting over, McConnell said: "Focus on costs. Costs are the problem. We need to target costs."
McConnell cited a recent National Public Radio poll that showed voters oppose the current version of health reform 55 percent to 39 percent.
"Why would they want to keep pushing something that the public is overwhelmingly against? The obvious answer is to put that measure on the shelf, start over."
Stand firm, GOP.
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1 comment:
The present administration must be brain dead since they keep trying to present the same bunch of healthcare garbage which they haven't been able to pass. It is time they junk the mess they were trying to force down the throat of the public and start back at square one with both parties having input on healthcare and its costs. If the democrats can't figure out what the problem is they certainly might when the next elections come and they are on the outside looking in.
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