Barry,

Time to revisit health care reform and I am hopeful you will agree with me that this week’s Presidential Health Care Summit is shaping up to be nothing more than a photo opportunity for President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Sure, the President has invited a handful of Republicans to sit down to discuss health care reform. 

But, Barry, I ask you what is there to discuss?  President Obama has unveiled his own health care plan – in advance of the so-called ‘summit.’  The White House says ‘we view this as the opening bid for the health meeting.’  Does that mean President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress is willing to wipe the slate clean and start over?  I doubt it.

I think House Republican Leader John Boehner is probably more on target when he says the President’s plan has “crippled the credibility” of the summit by “proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected.”

Barry, in poll after poll, the American people simply don’t like what’s happening – they want to start over when it comes to health care reform. 

And, most Americans don’t want federal funds used to pay for abortions – something that we discussed before. 

I was hoping to see some language in President Obama’s proposal that embraced the Stupak-Pitts Amendment approved by the House in its version of health care reform – language that prohibits using federal funds to pay for abortions.  Don’t bother looking.  That language is not there.  What is there is the President signing off on the Senate-approved language on abortion funding – language that does not adequately prevent federal funds from paying for abortions.  

And, even before the summit occurs, more promises from the Democrat-controlled Congressional leadership to use a legislative scheme to push health care through – without meaningful input from Republicans – a tactic that hardly reflects a bipartisan solution that Americans deserve.  

The question now – Will President Obama’s health care ‘summit’ really mean anything?  Is it a legitimate meeting of the minds or a just a high-profile photo-op? 

We’ll see.

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