Where’s the beef?

For all the talk about Obama’s revived version of the health care bill that is to be passed by “reconciliation,” no one has made clear how the Democrats can get to majorities in the House and Senate, given their still irreconcilable internal differences over the Stupak anti-abortion amendment, the public option, and other matters. So I’m not sure that this new initiative is any different from the innumerable other hot-air initiatives the Democrats have been madly floating for several weeks.

Daniel Foster at NRO says the same that I just said:

But some Democrats are still complaining about a lack of coordination with the White House, saying there are unsure the president’s new proposal will put House and Senate majorities on the same page:

“It has been three weeks since the Massachusetts election, and we have not received a path forward from the White House on health care substance and process that can clear the House and Senate,” one aide said. [Emphasis added.]

Which of course has been the situation all along—even before Scott Brown’s election.

However, for me, the biggest question at the moment is, why are the Republicans going to a “bipartisan summit” with Obama when his announced intention is to ram through a radical bill by the illegitimate means of reconciliation? What is there for the Republicans to discusss with the Democrats? Why did House GOP whip Eric Cantor call the summit “a dog and pony show,” then accept Obama’s invitation to it—especially after Obama used his last televised meeting with the Republicans to paint them as obstructionists and so push them to make a deal? Doesn’t Cantor understand that the power and respect that the Republicans have somewhat regained in recent months has come entirely from just saying no? So how about saying no to the summit?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 20, 2010 03:52 PM | Send