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DJP Update 2-25-2010 p.m. edition Health
Summit - opinions from various sources; LAGNIAPPE:
Former Astronaut Dr. James P. Bagian joins The Doctors
Company (TDC) board
Here are selected quotes from the Senate_GOP,
Washington Post, and Senate Democrats, and more PLUS a
link to the tweets #hcr and #healthsummit
Republican selection of quotes from the news:
http://republican.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Blogs.View&Blog_ID=51c7d4ac-bb81-44eb-8022-6ada4a581ba9&Month=2&Year=2010
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE SUMMIT
“Republicans Certainly Showed Up Ready To
Play” “Came In With A Plan,”
“The Best Day They Have Had In Years,”
“Strong Day”
CNN’S DAVID GERGEN: “Intellectually, The
Republicans Had The Best Day They’ve Had In
Years. The Best Day They Have Had In Years.”
(CNN’s “The Situation Room,”
2/25/10)
· CNN’s DAVID GERGEN: “The Folks In The
White House Just Must Be Kicking Themselves Right Now.
They thought that coming out of Baltimore when the
President went in and was mesmerizing and commanding in
front of the House Republicans that he could do that
again here today. That would revive health care and
would change the public opinion about their health care
bill and they can go on to victory. Just the opposite
has happened.” (CNN’s “Live,”
2/25/10)
NPR’S MARA LIASSON: “I Think That The
Republicans Made Their Arguments Very Well.” (Fox
News, 2/25/10)
CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “It Looks Like The
Republicans Certainly Showed Up Ready To Play.”
(CNN’s “Live,” 2/25/10)
· CNN’S WOLF BLITZER: “And The
Republicans Had Less Speaking Time, But They Took Full
Advantage Of Every Minute They Had.” (CNN’s
“The Situation Room,” 2/25/10)
THE HILL’S A.B. STODDARD: “I Think We
Need To Start Out By Acknowledging Republicans Brought
Their ‘A Team.’ They had doctors
knowledgeable about the system, they brought substance
to the table, and they, I thought, expressed interest
in the reform. I thought in the lecture from Senator
John McCain and on the issue of transparency, I thought
today the Democrats were pretty much on their
knees.” (Fox News’ “Live,”
2/25/10)
CNN’s GLORIA BORGER: “The Republicans
Have Been Very Effective Today. They Really Did Come To
Play. They Were Very Smart.” (CNN’s
“Live,” 2/25/10)
· BORGER: “They took on the substance of a
very complex issue. … But they really stuck to
the substance of this issue and tried to get to the
heart of it and I think did a very good job.”
(CNN’s “Live,” 2/25/10)
· BORGER: “They came in with a plan. They
mapped it out.” (CNN’s “Live,”
2/25/10)
POLITICO: “By The Afternoon, However, Both
Sides Took A More Substantive Approach That Played To
The Republicans’ Benefit, given Democratic
attempts to portray them as unreasonable and
partisan.” (“Six Hours Later, Stalemate
Remains,” Politico, 2/25/10)
FOX NEWS’ CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: “The
Republicans Really Helped Themselves. The argument
against them, it’s the party of no, they have no
ideas, they are against anything, they’re
nihilists. In fact, they spent seven hours, I think,
presenting a very strong case. They're knowledgeable.
They have ideas. They are interested in reform, but
they have differences. Lamar Alexander was dazzling,
Paul Ryan was rapier sharp in rebutting all of the
smoke and mirrors that the democrats had
presented.” (Fox News, 2/25/10)
JAMES CARVILLE: “First, In General,
You’d Have To Say, By The Most Part Most Of These
People Were Pretty Knowledgeable, They Had Done Their
Homework … I Thought That Senator Alexander And
Senator Coburn Did Great...” (CNN’s
“The Situation Room,” 2/25/10)
FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER: “Republicans Had A
Strong Day Making Their Points.” (Fox News’
“Live,” 2/25/10)
WASHINGTON POST’S MICHAEL GERSON: “The
Democrats’ Health-Care Ambush
Failed”(Michael Gerson, Op-Ed, “The
Democrats' Health-Care Ambush Failed,” The
Washington Post, 2/25/10)
----------
Washington Post
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/white-house/winners-and-losers-from-the-he.html?hpid=topnews
After spending our day watching the high-stakes or,
at the very least, high-profile health care summit at
Blair House, we came up with a list of our winners and
losers from the proceedings.
Those who we think soared and bored are below. Have
your own thoughts? The comments section is open for
business.
WINNERS
Tom Coburn: The Oklahoma senator is among the most
conservative voices in Congress but his remarks emerged
as a -- rare -- rallying point during the day. Coburn's
comments on the necessity of eliminating waste and
fraud from the health care system drew nods from the
president and kudos from a handful of Democratic and
Republican politicians gathered at Blair House. In a
room dominated by politicians trying to score political
points or vamp for the cameras, Coburn stood out.
President Obama: Did the president solve the problem
of passing a health care bill today? No. But, there was
never a reasonable expectation on either side that he
would. What Obama did do was paint himself -- for
anyone who was watching -- as someone genuinely
interested in compromise and genuinely interested in
engaging with his Republican colleagues. (Whether that
was a facade or the real thing remains a major point of
debate between partisans.) Obama also didn't let
Republicans run rough-shod over him either. He clashed
with Sens.Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and John McCain
(Ariz.) -- showing a feistiness (albeit a measured
feistiness) that is likely to be well received by the
party's base. Obama's performance saved, to our mind,
what could have been a disastrous day for his party as
he got relatively little help from his party's
representatives in Congress throughout the day.
Process: While President Obama sought repeatedly to
keep the focus on future-oriented policy solutions, the
discussion repeatedly devolved into process. Sen. John
McCain (Ariz.) dedicated the majority of his remarks to
detailing the deals cut during the health care debate
while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) spent
much of his time defending the idea of reconciliation
to pass major measures of the bill. Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) even brought process to
the Blair House discussion -- noting that Democrats had
been given more time to talk than Republicans. (Obama
shot back that he had not counted to his own speaking
time in the total since he is the president.) The more
process coverage, the worse for Democrats who have been
hamstrung to date by the focus on how the bill becomes
a law rather than the policy guts of the proposal.
The Senate: There was roughly an equal number of
House and Senate members gathered at Blair House but it
felt very much like a debate between senators. With the
exception of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) -- the GOP's
dedicated policy guy -- there was very little serious
engagement in the talks from the House side.
Paul Ryan: Speaking of the Wisconsin Republican, it
was clear that the president regards him as a serious
thinker and adversary while his GOP colleagues often
deferred to him on matters of health care and budget
policy. Ryan helped burnish his credentials a rising
star within the Republican party; he was partisan but
drove his attacks using data rather than pure political
rhetoric.
C-SPAN: What a day for the Fix's favorite television
network. Full coverage of the summit as well as a
flawless Internet feed for those not close to a
television. Well done.
LOSERS
Harry Reid: Reid is the consummate behind the scenes
player. And, today he reminded us again of why. Reid,
who spoke within the summit's first hour, was extremely
combative -- a tone that seemed out of step with the
overall tenor of the meeting in which most attendees
tried to pay at least lip service to the idea of
bipartisanship before launching into the attacks. Not
Reid. "Let's make sure we talk about facts," Reid
scolded Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). Later, he
interrupted Coburn and said the Oklahoma Senator was
trying to "filibuster."
John McCain: From the start of his remarks around
mid-day, McCain seemed on the verge of losing his
temper and threw several rhetorical jabs (including one
about Obama breaking his campaign promise about holding
the health care hearings on C-SPAN) into his speech.
("We're not campaigning anymore," Obama shot back at
McCain. "The election is over.") Later, McCain hit
Obama again for the special carve out for Florida in
the health care bill. Obama agreed with the McCain
critique, a move that caught the Arizona Republican off
guard and left him speechless. In truth, McCain's
target audience today was not people in the room or the
national media but rather conservative Republicans in
his home state -- the people he needs to beat back a
challenge from his ideological right from former Rep.
J.D. Hayworth.
Genuine Discussion: With a few exceptions, the bulk
of the summit -- not surprisingly -- was focused on the
rehashing of talking points rather than a serious
engagement on the issues. Obama repeatedly attempted to
keep speakers (of both parties) on topic but the
conversation felt like politicians talking at -- rather
than to -- one another. The idea of a serious policy
debate was probably sacrificed the moment the summit
was televised. But, it was jarring to watch what was
purported to be a discussion devolve into a series of
(semi)connected stump speeches.
Public Option: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.)
and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) were the
only ones to mention the issue that dominated the
health care debate for months on end last fall -- and
that was in the context of it being sacrificed as a
compromise to Republicans. And, as Fix colleague Alec
MacGillis pointed out, Obama was very careful to
emphasize that people shopping for coverage on the new
health insurance exchanges he is proposing would be
choosing only among 'private plans.'"
Cable Networks: With the exception of the
Obama-McCain tête à têete, the day was largely devoid
of the sort of made-for-TV moments that help drive
ratings.
By Chris Cillizza | February 25, 2010; 5:21 PM ET
Senate_GOPs Tweet:
Final #hcrsummit talk tallies: Dems and Obama: 233
minutes; GOP: 110 minutes http://bit.ly/ag6jv0 #tcot
#sgp
Senate Democrats statement of Senator Reid:
http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=322570&
February 25, 2010
Reid Statement On White House Health Summit
Washington, DC— Nevada Senator Harry Reid
released the following statement at the conclusion of
the bipartisan, bicameral White House Health Reform
Summit today:
"Today's meeting was an important exchange that
allowed the American people to hear different ideas and
I applaud the President for bringing us together.
Health reform is not about process or sound bites; it's
about real people like Jesús Gutierrez in Reno who
struggle with a health system that too often stands
between them and the care they need and deserve.
Ideological differences will always exist, but unless
we act health care costs will continue to skyrocket and
thousands of Americans will continue to lose their
coverage or be denied treatment every day.
"I still believe that we can work together and am
hopeful that we reach the bipartisan solution to health
reform that we've always preferred. We are serious
about delivering meaningful health reform to the
American people, and all options remain on the table to
accomplish that."
-----------
To see the tweets happening this very moment, go to
Google and type in #hcr
or
#healthsummit
and then scroll down to the tweets and click on
that. Here is the URL for one.
Example:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%23healthsummit+site%3Atwitter.com&tbs=mbl:1&tbo=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&sa=X&ei=nS-HS7_pKMeNlAeZkdTPAQ&ved=0CCMQsQcwCA
--------
AP at Yahoo News:
Excerpt:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and JENNIFER LOVEN,
Associated Press Writers – Thu Feb 25, 6:23 pm
ET
WASHINGTON – After a day of debate and
disagreement, President Barack Obama concluded
Thursday's unprecedented live talkfest on health care
with the bleak assessment that accord between Democrats
and Republicans may not be possible. He rejected
Republican preferences for seeking a step-by-step
solution or simply starting over.
Obama strongly suggested that Democrats will try to
pass a sweeping overhaul without GOP support, by using
controversial Senate budget rules that would disallow
filibusters. And then, he said, this fall's elections
would write the verdict on who was right.
"We cannot have another yearlong debate about this,"
Obama said at the end of a 7 1/2-hour marathon policy
session.
-----------
And the stories go on and on.
By the end of April, any attempt to push the current
bills through using reconciliation will stop.
Meanwhile, you can bet the folks who are doing polls
will be very busy. Much action in Congress will depend
on the polls. The eyes always are on the ballot box.
But sometimes the racing car fails to make the turn and
goes off of the cliff. We shall see.
Stay well. Live long. Exciting times are
unfolding.
LAGNIAPPE: Former Astronaut Dr. Jim Bagian joins The
Doctors Company (TDC) board (www.thedoctors.com). TDC
has a wonderful board and it was a pleasure to see Dr.
Jim Bagian join the TDC board today as a new board
member. Many of you know Dr. Bagian's work in patient
safety. Of course he is a multitalented leader -- an
engineer, physician, pilot, and astronaut. After the
1986 CHALLENGER space shuttle explosion, he supervised
the capsule's recovery from the ocean floor, personally
diving ninety-five feet into the Atlantic Ocean and
discovering the bodies. I feature him as one of the
leaders in chapter 16 of my book, "On Leadership -
Essential Principles for Success". I always learn
something from Jim and today was no exception as I
listened to him during breaks when I attended the TDC
board meeting that concluded today.
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Will be in the air most of tomorrow heading home
form California!
Have a great weekend!
Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD
Intrepid Resources® / The Medical Risk Manager Company
5000 West Esplanade Ave., #432
Metairie, Louisiana USA 70006
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DJP@intrepidresources.com
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