Current Event: Obama's Health Care Summit

With the debate on health care reform heating up, President Barack Obama’s implementation of the Health Care Summit at Blair House February 25, left little agreement on both sides of this crucial domestic issue. Senator Mitch McConnell reiterated the Republican Party’s position that health care reform should start from scratch while the President reaffirmed his position that elections have consequences. From the onset, Republicans had approached the session with skepticism and dismay at the current direction of the bill. Democrats on the other hand stress the fact that Americans are “so close” on some of the issues to focus on the devising issues. Republican leaders like Eric Cantor, the minority whip, declared that the American public couldn’t afford the plan while tapping on the sizable pile of paper representing the 2,400 pages of the bill. Some Republican leaders such as Representative Peter Roskam of Illinois complained that the latest efforts of the President’s compromise were too little, too late. The President would then negate these charges. While the President dominated the majority of the summit by presenting arguments against each Republican speaker’s assertion, he failed to persuade the opposing side. In the end, the President reiterated that this legislation was what the American people have waited for five decades, set a timeline for Republicans to join them on this issue, and reaffirmed the commitment to get this done without their support.