Communications

Henry Waxman may have been present at the “bipartisan” White House summit, but it is clear he wasn’t paying attention.  “I think one of the results of today’s meeting is that the American people fully understand that this bill needs to go forward with a majority,” Waxman said.  “I don’t think too many people are going to quibble if it involves reconciliation,” The Hill quotes Henry Waxman saying.

Poll after poll  after poll shows the American public rejects both the Democrats’ plan in substance as well as the process of reconciliation.  Still, Democrats are making it clear they intend to go down that path. 

How many more polls and elections will it take for the Democrats to accept that Americans do not want a government takeover of health care?

The President might have made a miscalculation when he assumed that his plan represents a consensus among Democrats. Just this morning Dem Rep. Bart Stupak (MI) provided his own assessment of the plan’s popularity:

“There's other problems with this bill. The president has tried  to bridge the house and senate bill, but at least to the house members I’ve talked to, probably 15 or 20 of them in the last 24 hours, they've said there are other problems with this bill. Remember, the house rejected the idea of taxing health insurance plans, we just totally rejected that idea. But yet, that's part of the bill. Parts of this  bill doesn't kick in until 2018. We are saying why are  we passing a bill now that's not going to kick in for another eight, nine years? I mean, we have some real legislative and procedural concerns [about] what the leadership is trying to do with this legislation.” (Bart Stupak, Fox and Friends, 2/24/10)

President Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has spent a lot of time avoiding tough questions on health care in his daily briefings.  With Thursday’s Health Care Summit looming, there are a few points that deserve some follow-up; perhaps the White House would be more responsive if the American people asked, too.

Follow the RNC on Twitter and retweet these questions to Gibbs:

@PressSec Polls show Americans want a fresh start on health care, so why is Obama ignoring them? #askgibbs
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@PressSec Threatening reconciliation doesn’t reflect Obama’s call for a “good faith” exchange of ideas, does it? #hcr #tcot #askgibbs
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@PressSec Don’t price controls indicate the WH’s admission that the Senate’s bill will not keep premiums in check? #hcr #tcot #askgibbs
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@PressSec How will raising taxes on businesses and individuals promote economic growth? #hcr #tcot #askgibbs
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@PressSec Are the Democrats capable of overcoming their internal divisions to pass this ... more

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine does not think much of the American public’s preference for how to move forward on health care reform.

“When I hear the start from scratch, it doesn't strike me as earnest advice. It's more like Dr. Kevorkian giving you health care advice. They don't want to start from scratch… Start from scratch isn't an idea. Start from scratch isn’t a solution.” (DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, MSNBC, 2/23/10)

A recent poll shows that 57% think Congress should start over on health care. It may not be the preferred solution of the Democratic Party but Party members ignore the sentiments of  American voters at their own peril.

The White House may try to paint its health care proposal as the Democrats’ consensus plan, but on the issue of abortion in particular, Bart Stupak begs to differ:

“Unfortunately, the President's proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion. The Senate language is a significant

departure from current law and is unacceptable.”

Rep Stupak is not alone in his conviction that a health care overhaul plan should not include public funding for abortions. A December Quinnipiac University poll found that voters oppose using any public money in the health care overhaul to pay for abortions by a 72 – 23% margin.

The Democratic opposition to abortion funding in a health care overhaul plan may not end with Stupak either considering that sixty-four Democrats voted with 176 Republicans for the Stupak amendment in November, which would have prohibited coverage of abortions in a new government-run health care plan.

At the White House press briefing today, Robert Gibbs said that starting over on health care reform “is not what American people want.”

According to a recent poll, Gibbs couldn’t be more wrong about what the American people want.

 “Presented with a choice of ways forward, 43.9 percent said Congress should start over, 25.1 percent said Congress should pass some kind of bill and fix it later, and just 18.1 percent said they backed Democratic leaders' preferred strategy of having the House pass the Senate bill alongside other legislation to modify it,” according to a Zogby International-University of Texas Health Science Center poll.

That’s right. Not only do the American people reject the plans Democrats have put forward already, but exactly 18.1% actually endorse what has become the White House’s plan of action for moving forward on health care.

The President does himself no favors when he brings local economies to a grinding halt in order to accommodate his campaign stops across the country.

Tour operators in Nevada are his latest victim. The Las Vegas Review-Journal quotes several tour companies describing the economic impact a presidential visit has on their business, at a time when they can least afford.

“Nigel Turner, president of Heli USA, said his company will have to cancel tours for 180 reserved passengers,” due to the presidential visit and the grander-than-usual security requirements, writes the Review-Journal.

And how does Nigel Turner feel about that?

"I think it's very hypocritical to come here and talk about jobs and improving the tourism economy and then do something like this that will just devastate the tour operators," Turner said, according the paper.

Director of operations for Sundance Helicopters told the paper that hundreds of his customers will be affected by the presidential visit.

The ... more

The Plum Line is quoting Senate Dem leadership aides as saying the Senate Democrats are “warming” to the idea of using reconciliation to force their health care bill through Congress after the summit.

According to one Senate aide, “People want to get rid of health care. They want it off the agenda. The simplest answer is that reconciliation may be the most expedient way to do it.”

 After all the talk coming from the President promoting a “bipartisan” health summit the fact that the Democrats are already planning a post summit strategy that involves reconciliation underlines where the Democrats really are on this issue. 

 But it also demonstrates the Democrats’ eagerness to get the unpopular legislation off their plates as soon possible, by any means necessary.

 If Democrats think pushing their government health care plan through Congress by using reconciliation will be more palatable to the American public they should consider a recent poll which found that 57% think Congress ... more

House Democrats do not have much to campaign on going into this year’s midterm elections. The major piece of legislation they have to take credit for is a failed $862 billion stimulus bill that has not created jobs -but has gone a long way in helping to create record debt.

A piece in The Hill today takes note of all the statements Nancy Pelosi has made in an effort to convince the American voter that the stimulus has carried out its promises. The Hill concludes the reason for Pelosi’s insistence is that, “for better or worse, Democrats’ election hopes are tied to the stimulus.”

Despite all of the statements by the White House and Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, the numbers don’t lie and the public is not buying the spin. The latest CBS- New York Times poll found that only 6% of the American public believes the stimulus has created jobs. Taken together with a recent CNN poll, that found that nearly three out of four think the stimulus money has been wasted, Pelosi’s bet on the stimulus ... more

WASHINGTON – Today, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele issued the following statement and released a web video to honor the observance of President Ronald Reagan's 99th birthday. The web video, entitled "A Shining City Upon A Hill", can be viewed here:

"Today, I am pleased to honor the 99th birthday of President Ronald Reagan. Through his commitment to freedom, leadership and hard work, President Reagan spent his life serving our nation and the public good. Ronald Reagan’s accomplishments for our country are endless, and his unwavering commitment to the conservative principles is what enabled him to achieve so much. As we remember our former president on this special day, we should take time to learn from his example and remind ourselves and the nation that anything is possible for this country."