Honestly, I found the health care summit somewhat discouraging. Seven hours and some memorable sound bites later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continued to suggest starting from scratch; that's not the best suggestion at the end of a meeting, nor does it seem time-efficient. While I admire President Obama's efforts to set the health care reform agenda, and develop themes for the summit (cost control, deficit reduction, insurance regulation, and expansion of coverage), it seemed to me that the summit served as a platform for long-winded talking points with few results at the end of the day. In his closing remarks, President Obama said that both sides agree that there is a need for health care reform; he outlined that both sides agree that there's a need for insurance market reforms, as well as for some aspects of interstate insurance. However, I feel there should have been progress towards how to reach consensus on these issues. Without willingness from both sides to work with each other, and to put politics aside, I feel the prospects of health care reform are grim.
I think President Obama said it best when he asked, "Is there enough serious effort that in a month's time, or a few week's time, or six month's time, we could actually decide something?" Health care reform is necessary, and I think Congress needs to get a move on it.
Also, here's a link to a somewhat lengthy transcript of summit highlights. It's fun to read through when you have the time.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/25/health.care.summit.updates/index.html
I have to agree with aparna on how it discouraged me while watching the clips on the summit. I find it hard to understand the purpose of a summit like this when we know how hard-headed partisan politicians are. Everyone thinks they know better than the other and everyone has statistics to back it up.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I took a look at the summarized transcript that aparna provided and was much more uplifted after reading it. yes, many republicans continued to pound out partisan points but there seemed to be a hint at a commonality in their goals, which I hope was made more apparent to both sides. Those who reported on the summit commented on how the summit seemed relatively positive with most noting that the proceedings were fairly civil.
I also appreciated Obama trying to get the republicans to "soul search" what they thought would be an acceptable compromise in the comprehensive health care bill. It was as fair of an invitation as a partisan politician could extend to the other side. I would like to see what the republicans would be willing to step forward and agree to instead of fighting every step of the way.
I am curious what will happen if the bill is moved forward through reconciliation. What will the Republicans do in response? Stall the bill forever?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Aparna's comment about how the summit just seems to show that achieving a solution that can satisfy everyone seems near impossible at this point. The summit did not seem to have any positive vibe to it outside of the reality there was agreement that hc reform was needed.
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