Healthcare Summit Failed to Rise Above Political Fray

Anticipation and excited speculation swirled about Washington as the country watched Congressional leaders and the President embark on what everyone hoped would be a bipartisan meeting of the minds at the healthcare summit. Unfortunately, the summit yielded little progress in moving Washington leaders past their deadlock.

Familiar rhetoric on both sides was used, but the Democrats seemed to dominate the discussion, casting a shadow on the idea of an equalized debate. Democrats had nearly 2 hours more speaking time than Republicans, with some Republicans even being cut off. President Obama spoke for 119 minutes, while Congressional Democrats’ speaking time amounted to 114 minutes. Total Republican speaking time came in around 110 minutes.

When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell raised the issue of the unequal opportunity for Republicans to have the floor to speak, President Obama argued the point: “I don’t think that’s quite right,” he said. “You’re right, there was an imbalance on the opening statements because – I’m the president.” The Democrat side responded in laughter. “I didn’t count my time in terms of dividing it evenly.”

One of the most electric moments during the day was between Sen. John McCain (AZ) and President Obama. Senator McCain called out his former campaign rival for not living up to his own words, regarding transparency and bipartisan cooperation in drafting healthcare legislation.

“Both of us during the campaign promised change in Washington,” Sen. McCain said. “In fact, eight times [as a candidate] you said that negotiations on health care reform would be broadcast on C-SPAN cameras. I’m glad that more than a year later they are, here. Unfortunately, this product was not produced in that fashion; it was produced behind closed doors.”

“Look, let me just make this point, John, because we are not campaigning anymore. The election’s over,” President Obama responded.

“I’m reminded of that every day,” Sen. McCain shot back, adding that “the American people care about what we did and how we did it.”

“We can have a debate about process or we can have a debate about how we’re actually going to help the American people at this point. And I think that the latter debate is the one that they care about a little bit more” President Obama said tensely.

There is mounting speculation that the Democrats will use the legislative tool of reconciliation to pass healthcare legislation, without a single Republican vote. By using reconciliation, Democrats would only need 51 votes. The word was brought up several times by Republicans, emphasizing that though the strategy has been used, it has never been used for such landmark legislation. They argued that because healthcare accounts for nearly a sixth of GDP, any solution must be found through ideas from both sides of the political aisle.

Democrats have declared in defense of reconciliation that the American people want something done above all else, so therefore the method for passing the bill does not matter.

According to a new Gallup poll, Democrats should be hesitant in using reconciliation. 52% of Americans would oppose the use of reconciliation to pass healthcare legislation, compared to 39% in favor.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared that the Democratic healthcare bill would create millions of jobs, a statement that’s sure to create a buzz in the current economic climate: “It’s about jobs. In its life, it [the health bill] will create 4 million jobs — 400,000 jobs almost immediately.”

Daniel Hannan, a conservative MEP from England, warned the U.S. should think carefully before creating a national healthcare system. Hannan said the U.K.’s national healthcare program employs nearly 1.5 million people. Most of those employed fill administrative duties and outnumber the number of doctors and nurses.

The Americano/Agencies

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