Healthcare summit: Chance for compromise or 'trap' for the GOP?
The coming week could provide important signals about whether bipartisanship has a chance these days in Washington 鈥� or whether partisan gridlock will become only more entrenched as the 2010 midterms approach.
On Thursday, President Obama will host a televised bipartisan summit in hopes of reviving healthcare legislation in Congress. He announced the meeting after Massachusetts elected Republican Scott Brown to the US Senate, which ended the Democrats鈥� filibuster-proof supermajority in that chamber.
Ahead of the summit, the White House is expected to release , which will probably combine elements of the Democratic bills passed by the Senate and House. Mr. Obama has also challenged Republicans to come up with their own proposal.
, the president outlined the approach he hopes lawmakers take at the summit.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points,鈥� he said. 鈥淚nstead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that鈥檚 been with us for generations.鈥�
At the same time, however, the Obama administration intends to use a strategy where Republicans will be put on the spot 鈥� forcing them to choose between compromising and looking like obstructionists, .
Also, reports have surfaced that the reconciliation process will be used to push the healthcare bill through, which would require only 51 votes for approval in the Senate. Before Mr. Brown was elected, Senate Democrats had 60 votes for the healthcare bill.
So it shouldn鈥檛 come as a surprise that many Republicans are wary of the meeting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a trap!鈥� is a common refrain.
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Republican leader in the Senate, has been vocal in objecting to how Democrats have approached healthcare, as well as a cap-and-trade energy bill. 鈥淥n some of the big issues, they鈥檝e tried to go in the wrong direction,鈥� he said Sunday
Still, he said of the summit, 鈥淚 intend to be there and my members will be there and ready to participate.鈥�
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
The healthcare process, Mr. Gingrich said, should start from scratch 鈥� a point that members of the GOP are in agreement on. And Republicans should get as much time as Democrats to set forth their ideas at the summit, he said: 鈥淟et鈥檚 test the president鈥檚 willingness to be bipartisan.鈥�
The healthcare summit isn鈥檛 the only bipartisan entity to get attention in recent days. This past Thursday, Obama created a bipartisan commission to come up with solutions to the federal budget deficit and national debt.
To chair this commission, he named Erskine Bowles, who served in the Clinton administration as White House chief of staff, and Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming. In all, the panel would have eight Republicans and 10 Democrats. Fourteen members, Obama said, should agree on the panel鈥檚 recommendations.
No one expects the commission to come up with anything easily. In fact, just establishing a panel proved to be difficult: A few weeks ago, a bipartisan measure in the Senate to establish a fiscal commission fell apart when some Republicans withdrew their support.
The partisan gridlock in Congress was a key factor in the recent decision by Sen. Evan Bayh (D) of Indiana to not seek reelection.
鈥淔or some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should,鈥� in announcing his decision. 鈥淭here is too much partisanship and not enough progress 鈥� too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving.鈥�
In a segment this past Friday New York Times columnist David Brooks detailed some of Bayh鈥檚 frustrations. In the 11 years that Bayh has served, 鈥渆xactly twice in that period of time all the senators have gotten together to talk about policy,鈥� Mr. Brooks said, citing discussions with Bayh.
One of the senators鈥� assemblies was after 9/11. The other was around the time of the Clinton impeachment.
鈥淗e thought those sessions were actually fantastic sessions,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淭hey actually talked about things. And they had exchanges.鈥�
Bayh has proposed that all senators get together as a body and have lunch, Brooks says.
But it could take a lot before lawmakers agree on such a step. , a blogger for The Washington Post: 鈥淩epublicans and Democrats don't agree on much, but they do agree that Washington is increasingly paralyzed ... by their inability to agree on much.鈥�
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