Bipartisan Summit was…Something

Between phone calls and other work, I listened to most of the health care summit yesterday. As a student of and participant in politics for the last 25 years, I have never witnessed anything quite like it. Some have discounted it as political theater. Others are saying it was a waste of time. It was the former, but the meeting cannot be discounted as lacking consequence.

The Republicans in attendance repeated their well practiced two-part refrain. They want the process stopped. They want to start from the beginning.

The Democrats responded with a chorus of we are so close, the country needs to move forward now.

President Obama served as moderator in chief. He talked of finding common ground. He showed an astounding ability to get into the weeds of the complex health care swamp yet stay focused on his agenda. He did not advance the issue with Republicans. If he did anything, he showed Democrats they would have to go this alone. They control the White House and Congress. It’s now or never.

Nobody walked out a winner.

Congressional Republicans could have defined their vision for health care reform. They chose instead to criticize the current bills and the process. With midterm elections looming, the GOP wants to stymie the Democrats. The Republicans made it clear they will use either the lack of action or, should the Democrats pass something, the flaws in the plan to try to win votes. They opted for politics over policy.

Their cynical strategy may work. In the meantime, our ailing, expensive and unfair health care system remains an obstacle in the economy and a heavy weight on the backs of business and American worker. The Republicans offered little to address this. It is possible they don’t think the matter should be addressed at all, but chose to parse their words so as to not say so directly. In any case, they began an election campaign focused on the other party’s failures. It was a disappointing display.

Congressional Democrats tried to follow the President’s lead and sound interested in charting a bipartisan course. I am not sure if they are, but it doesn’t really matter. The only option offered by the Republicans was to start over. The Democrats have expended too much political capital and there is too little time left before Election Day to begin the process anew. They were anything but inspirational.

The President made health care a priority and he relied on his fellow Democrats in Congress to get the job done. They have not. They now appear poised to attempt a comprehensive and complicated overhaul of the system in a single bill.

Yesterday, as I sat listening to the summit participants talk about what the American people want, what the American people need or what the American people expect I sat mulling our 16% health care insurance premium increase. Last year, it was 9%. Unbelievably, I am told these increases fall below the national average.

I heard Republicans talk about the marketplace and the need to allow people to make their own choices. I did not know what they were talking about. Health care insurance does not operate in a truly free market. My choices boil down to limiting our access to doctors, cutting our coverage and rolling the dice that nothing happens to my family’s health this year, or paying the increase by reducing other expenditures at home and in my business. I can’t speak for anybody else, but, for this American, these are scary choices.

I heard Democrats talk about what this massive bill would accomplish. I have seen government at its best and at its worst in my time. As a result, I am confident some of the promises are not going to be kept. I am concerned about what these failures will cost me, my family, my business and my country.

Part of me wants to stand with the Republicans and call for a fresh start. This is such a large problem – let’s make sure we take the time to do this right. Then, I think about yesterday’s meeting and how, even though this issue has been on the burner for decades, no Congress or President has ever mustered the courage to do something of substance about it. The steely faces and the gamesmanship in Blair House yesterday should tell us something. Health care has become politically toxic. Regardless of who controls Congress in the next term, they are likely to continue to kick this down the road for the next group to handle.

President Obama and the Democratic leadership have a choice. They can move forward with the bill they have created, or they can do what those who preceded them have done and walk away. They will pay a political price either way, but there is a chance they will actually do more good than harm by pressing forward. This American hopes they do. The future of my family, my business and my country rests in their hands. The time to deal with the issue of health care is now.

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.