« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

MEMBER DIARY

Barack Obama: A Candle With Two Wicks

By: Dave Poff (haystack) (Diary)  |  February 20th, 2010 at 10:06 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

[image via Vanity Fair fluff piece]

On Friday 19 February, it was reported that President Obama was planning to:

publish his healthcare plan as early as Sunday or Monday, combining features of the two Democratic bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives, congressional aides and healthcare advocates said on Friday.

Yet the very same day we’re told he wants to hear from Republicans on what they have to offer:

“The Republicans say that they’ve got a better way to do it. So I want them to put it on the table. I’m not an unreasonable guy. If you show me that you can do the things we just talked about — protect people from insurance problems, make sure that the costs are controlled and people who don’t have health insurance are covered — you can do it cheaper than me, then why wouldn’t I do that? I’ll just grab your idea and say, ‘Great,’ and take all the credit. So show me what you got, but don’t let the American people go another year and another 10 years and another 20 years without health insurance.”

It’s fair to suggest that the President has become jaded by his short stint in the Oval office given his publicly stated desire for input from Republicans…so long as anything they offer aligns with the plans he already has in mind. To offer both sides of the political divide an opportunity to find common ground despite the fact that he already knows what he’s willing to hear and accept only offers Americans the one thing he says he doesn’t want: Political Theater:

“I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points,” Obama said in his weekly address. “Instead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations. ”

Really?

Since the President has the plan, knows how this all turns out, and is merely looking at this folly of a summit as Political cover for 2010 (shouting “we got health care done in true American bipartisan fashion…re-elect Democrats far and wide please”) why don’t the Republicans just stay home rather than go for the free coffee and donuts before having to throw the fight in the middle rounds?

Obama can burn both ends of the Healthcare candle all he wants. There’s really no need for Republicans to light the match.

Tags: , , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • Common_Cents

    If so, this summit should be avoided and Obama called out for the fraud he is.

    • neomom

      Paul Ryan was not invited by the White House. He would need to be selected as one of the (I believe) four “open” slots of the Republican leadership’s choosing.

      But I agree. McConnell, Boehner et al. Should put out a press conference and statement 10 minutes after the President posts HIS plan stating that since the Dems are hell-bent on putting through their plans with reconciliation, there is absolutely no reason to participate in the Kibuki.

      Then publish their own plan again and push it like mad.

    • Marcus_Traianus

      so Obama fears him.

      Therefore, outside our minority leaders, I believe whoever gets an invitation should automatically become a suspected closet single payer advocate or potential weak link.

      But that’s just paranoid old me.

  • johnt

    That’s a very broad and therefore misleading statement. Not anything new though for the only man who lies better and more often than sex predator Bill Clinton.
    I’m guessing that the so called jobs bill is already known to the insiders as another failure to come, so back to health care and the public’s freedom be damned .

  • Bobcat51

    dog and pony show to give 0bama cover. Republicans are being played like game fish by 0bama and look weak. You already have both hands on the winners trophy and now you want to give it back to the Great Pretender.

    PLEASE DON”T GO ! You cannot win; you will just end up as fodder . 0bama is down at 45% today, lets see him sink into the the 30′s ASAP.

  • deano64

    the Republicans come out of this still being called the party of NO! Why can’t they come out and tell the American people what’s really going on? That Obama has given the signal that he only wishes to jam the current health care bill down our throats and calling Republicans up to Blair House is just political theatre. Well any Republican that might try and work a compromise (could any be that dumb? Wait never mind.) They will be punished along with the Dems come November.

  • bobojake
  • teapartypatriot

    The deaf and dumb teleprompter-reader wants to “listen” to Republican ideas on heathcare – which they have been stating repeatedly for more than a year. I guess he’s just trying to fool his ignorant, gullible base, since nobody else believes his BS.

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    only seems to shed such a deep shadow over everything…

  • Marcus_Traianus

    this guys burns from all quarters.

    He wants Republicans to come and discuss;
    - A plan that Democrats formulated in private with the President over a year long period
    - Has zero Republican input that was actually discussed with them beforehand
    - Has every provision offensive to the American people
    - That will be rammed down the American peoples throat, unconstitutionally via Reconciliation- which was their plan all along.

    Democrats beleive inviting Republicans provides a convenient scapegoat because Lord knows it’s an emergency and they HAVE to do something (every notice everything is always urgent or critical).

  • jodetoad

    with all his pronouncements?

    Most folks, once they have somebody figured for a liar, quit listening. I have.

  • bballfan

    stand to read anything anymore with his face on it. I quit listening a bit ago.