In Which A Bunch Of Politicians Meet, In Public, On The Record

I didn't get to watch today's summit where Mr. Obama hosted leaders of the GOP and the Democrats to discuss his health care proposals.  Judging from this report from Salon, it seems that the only people coming [out -ed] of the meeting looking good were Mr. Obama and the GOP.  Hardly surprising.

Obama debated Republicans vigorously and with precision—but it looked like a debate among people with actual philosophical differences, which in part it was. After an in-the-weeds debate about how the Congressional Budget Office accounted for premium increases, it became clear that the debate was between Democrats who want to set minimum standards for coverage and Republicans who want the market and individual choice to rule. The Democratic plan is more expensive but covers more people. The Republican plan is cheaper and doesn't.

As it played out, the event didn't look like one reasonable person aligned against a company of hooting morons. As Obama said during the lunch break: "The argument Republicans are making really isn't that this is a government takeover of health care, but rather that we're insuring the—or we're regulating the insurance market too much. And that's a legitimate philosophical disagreement." Obama continued to affirm this view by saying things like this: "Neither of these proposals is radical. The question is which one works best."

Moments like this make me glad to have Mr. Obama as President.  Although I disagree with much of his agenda, I appreciate the class he brings to the office.

If only the Democrats would have negotiated in good faith with the GOP, productive legislation might have already been signed into law.  Instead they have to wait for Mr. Obama to show them how it is done.