WASHINGTON – A high-stakes White House summit that opened with Republicans urging President Obama to “start over” on reforming the nation’s health care system quickly bogged down on Thursday into a debate over how to rein in spiraling health care costs.
“We have a very difficult gap to bridge here,” Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said in reference to Democrats’ stalemated legislation to extend coverage to more than 30 million people who are now uninsured. “We just can’t afford this. That’s the ultimate problem.”
But Obama and Democratic leaders cast the reform they want as critical to tackling an issue that is even more pressing to many Americans — the struggling economy.
The Democrats’ strategy appeared to be to highlight the several points of agreement on health care reform with the GOP and to argue that it made no sense to start over again, as Republicans are urging.
But Democrats were unable to overcome the points of disagreement that prevented a bipartisan breakthrough.
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Updates:
2:51 pm EST, February 25th, 2010 — Palin: More of the Same, Only More Expensive
I was watching Fox News today and Obama (“hint” — he constantly interrupted the GOP) was somewhat degrading. I was into a good book at the same time and was not paying attention.
Why would that be?
Because Obama has never made any sense and he featured Pelosi and Reid as his main speakers.
I lost interest immediately and went back to my book.
Why would I not? The cartoon in the sidebar says it all.
Again, what might Obama’s objection be to the following:
1) Keep the infrastructure as it (privately held)
2) Draft legislation putting “universal health care” at the state level
3) Let each state decide how best to act as the health insurer of last resort. What is required in California may not be necessary in Maine.
And what if a state refuses to get involved with health care? Who will fund this, the state or the federal government and at what level of funding?
UV … that would lead to “equalization” and the US States would become provinces 11 thru 60 (there would be a bunch of territories including DC) and Ottawa would be the capital (or may be Buffalo).
Might work WCT and even lower their health care costs. Of course that would upset the big U.S. lobbyists like the medical and drug supply companies.
What absolutely baffles me about the cost of health care is the fact that the biggest cost is unionized health care workers. Doctors are a monopolized union, nurses are a monopolized union. Yeah the insurance companies are greedy and the patients don’t want to pay for it but if you really want to tackle costs break up the union and destroy the monopoly. Until then we are all just whistling past the grave yard. That kind of cost will sink the wealthiest of nations.