Democrats & Republicans Debate Health Care

President Obama hosted a bipartisan discussion on healthcare reform Wednesday afternoon. Top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the Blair House for seven and a half hours in an attempt to hammer out the key differences preventing the passage of comprehensive reform.

Barack Obama, who had laid out his ideas in an online bill posted Monday morning, took on the role as moderator in chief. The president was sandwiched in between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on his left and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner on his right, while the two parties filled the room on their respective sides.

The style of the debate was simple: Democrats and Republicans, called on by their leadership, spoke their mind and responded to opponents in a back and forth dialogue.

Democratic leaders highlighted the main aspects of the House and Senate bills passed last year, citing cost control measures, lower premiums, greater choice, and deficit reduction.

Republicans countered with their recent themes, criticizing the bill for its expansion of government, backroom deals, and public outrage against the measure.

Being on national television, the discussion remained civil, though a couple moments had the potential to boil over. In one instance Senator John McCain, Obama’s rival in the 2008 election, criticized alleged backroom deals. Visibly annoying Obama, the president responded, “The election is over, John,” and that the American people are more interested in what happens, not how it happens.

In another situation, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, the number two Republican, discussed the complexity of the bill and condemned its length. With the stacks of paper that make up the bill on his desk, he explained that the American people don’t need a 2,400-page bill. The president immediately lambasted the Virginia congressman for a political stunt, explaining that healthcare reform is complicated.

For such a lengthy debate, very little was accomplished, but given the current state of Washington politics, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Republicans remain united against the current healthcare proposal, while Democrats still face a filibuster in the Senate. Attention remains on the Democratic leadership in Congress, who are considering using reconciliation, a controversial tactic employed five times during the Bush Administration, to overcome a filibuster. It appears nothing has changed, while healthcare reform still hangs in the balance.