Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh said that the Republicans should refuse to meet with Obama at his proposed Health Care Summit. Obama lost, the Republicans won, why bail him out with a sound bite opportunity? And at the very least, Republicans should force Obama to admit defeat by scrapping the plans that were rejected by a majority of Americans and starting from scratch. Later the same day–the same day–that Rush gave that advice, top Republicans wrote a letter claiming reluctance to attend if the old plans are not scrapped. Reps. Boehner and Cantor wrote to chief of staff Rahm Emanuel (The Washington Post):
“‘If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate,’ Boehner and Cantor wrote.”…. ” ‘Bipartisanship’ is not writing proposals of your own behind closed doors, then unveiling them and demanding Republican support,” Boehner and Cantor wrote. “Bipartisan ends require bipartisan means.”
Sure, it’s wimpy and timid and does not go far enough. But it’s a start. Fight, boys, fight!
For his part, President Obama gave little indication that he “might abandon the months of work that produced Democratic bills that passed the House and the Senate late last year.” Oooooh! All that “months of work” to produce bills that were soundly rejected by the American public. That’s like a surgeon saying that he should keep going because he’s already started amputating the wrong leg. Brilliant, Democrats.
Smash Mouth Politics 