President Obama has called for a bipartisan, televised health care summit later this month in an effort to keep health care reform alive. Republicans say they’ll attend, but want to scrap the bills passed by the House and the Senate late last year and start over from scratch. The Democrats are still struggling to iron out the differences between those two bills, and some are growing frustrated with what they believe is a White House that wants to back away from health care and focus on the economy. Is Obama living up to his promise to conduct the health care debate before the public? Does a televised discussion of health care offer the only chance to bring about reform? Or is the summit simply a chance for Obama and the Democrats to paint the Republicans as partisan obstructionists?
Guests:
Peter Nicholas, LA Times reporter in the Washington Bureau
Congressman Michael C. Burgess, MD, 26th District of Texas, Ft. Worth, Chairman of the Congressional Healthcare Caucus