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Paul Ryan was one of the few bright spots during the 7 and a half hour long “bipartisan” Health Care Summit.  I wasn’t able to watch as much as I wanted because of my work schedule, but what I did hear was more of the same.  From the Democrats, it was sob stories and ideas based on emotions.  From the Republicans, it was tort reform, buying insurance across state lines and anger at the President and Democrats for shutting them out of the process and breaking promises of transparency.

Even though the Republicans gave some great ideas, we all know that Obama isn’t going to incorporate any of them.  This health care summit was designed to make Obama and the Democrats look good and the Republicans look bad.  Unfortunately for Obama, I think it backfired on him.  Several Republicans, in addition to Paul Ryan, had some great things to say and I’ll try to post some of them as I’m able.  I also got the impression that the Republicans knew more about Obama’s plan than Obama did.  They definitely came prepared.

If you missed Congressman Ryan, you can listen to him by clicking on this link —> Paul Ryan Health Care

He lays out the reasons why conservatives are opposed to the Obama’s health care plan while at the same time advocating for free market solutions to health care.  Let me know what you think.

UPDATE

I found a YouTube video of Paul Ryan at the Health Care Summit.

The White House has released President Obama’s health care plan.  Supposedly, it’s supposed to lower costs and increase coverage.  I’ve read most of what is posted on the White House website, but I don’t see anything new.  It seems like it’s the Senate bill with a few measures from the House bill mixed in.  The opening paragraph of Obama’s plan claims that Republican suggestions have been included, but I have yet to see the 2 main pillars of the Republican take on health care — tort reform and buying insurance across state lines.  Obama’s plan consists of new government regulations, mandates on buying insurance, new taxes on “evil rich” people and tax credits for everyone else.  It can basically be summed in two points, more government intrusion into our lives and redistribution of wealth.  How will this be beneficial to our country and our health care system?   From what I’ve read, this plan does nothing to actually reduce the cost of health care, and provides government handouts to help some people pay for health care.  This would naturally increase the deficit, but will supposedly be paid for by taxes on businesses and the rich.  The following is a summary of the section of the plan that is supposed to make health care more affordable. 

Despite President Obama’s recent rhetoric about reaching out to Republicans and getting their input on health care reform, a sneaky plan is underway to pass health care without any help from Republicans.  Wendell Primus, the top health care adviser to Nancy Pelosi, believes it can be passed by Easter.  If I’m understanding the complicated and tricky plan correctly, the House would pass the Senate bill, Obama would sign the Senate bill, then the House would pass another bill changing the Senate version.  According to Anna Edney of CongressDaily,

House Speaker Pelosi’s top healthcare adviser today outlined a plan that would allow both chambers to make changes to the Senate healthcare overhaul before the overhaul becomes law.

Wendell Primus said the plan is to have President Obama sign the Senate bill before signing the legislation making the changes, even though Congress will approve them in reverse to satisfy skeptical House members who refuse to pass the Senate bill before changes are made.

“The trick in all of this is that the president would have to sign the Senate bill first, then the reconciliation bill second, and the reconciliation bill would trump the Senate bill,” Wendell Primus, told health policy experts gathered at the National Health Policy Conference hosted by AcademyHealth and Health Affairs.

Some have questioned whether rules would allow Congress to pass changes to a bill that is not yet law. House members have insisted both chambers approve the changes, which likely will go through the reconciliation process to require 51 votes rather than the 60-vote supermajority in the Senate, before they pass they Senate bill.

[snip]

Negotiators first must agree on changes.

The Senate parliamentarian still needs to weigh in, he added.

Despite all these complications, Primus said, lawmakers will be “very close to being done” with an overhaul by Easter recess.

The 2000 plus page health care bill does not appear to be dead as most of us had hoped.  I’m not sure if this whole process can be pulled off or even if it is legal, but it does show how desperate Progressives like Pelosi are to have a government takeover of our health care system.

It’s all Bush’s Rahm Emanuel’s fault!  Democrats, angry about the collapse of health care reform, are breaking from their usual mantra of blaming everything on George Bush, and are turning their attention to Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.  Instead of correctly realizing that the American people do not want more government involvement in their health care, Democrats are looking for another scapegoat to put the blame on.  According to The Hill,

The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

The share of the blame comes as cracks are beginning to show in Emanuel’s once-impregnable political armor

Why do liberals always need someone to blame?  Why can’t they take responsibility for their actions and admit that the American people are rejecting a socialist/progressive agenda?  I’m no fan of Emanuel, but to put the blame on him for the health care debacle is wrong.  According to the same article from The Hill,

Many people have criticized President Obama for being a little self absorbed.  It is true that he refers to himself and his accomplishments a lot when giving speeches, but a speech at  the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington may take the cake.  While giving a pitch for his health care plan, he refers to a letter he received about a woman who had died of breast cancer.  We don’t know her name, because Obama either chose not to use it, or he forgot it.  I don’t know why he would not at least use her first name.  However, he was not using a teleprompter, so I think he forgot it.  What is surprising about this woman, is that she was buried in an Obama t-shirt.  While this may seem a little disturbing to some, Obama almost seems proud of it.  According to Byron York of the Washington Examiner,

Many observers have noted that the president often seems extraordinarily self-referential. It’s all about him, they say. But even those critics might be a little taken aback by the “buried in an Obama t-shirt” remark. Is it really that much about him?

If Obama had left out the being “buried in an Obama t-shirt” part, this woman’s story would have been more effective in making his point, but if Obama is truly self absorbed, it would be impossible for him not to include this little piece of information about an unnamed woman.  Watch the following video for yourself and come to your own conclusion about Obama’s level of egocentricity.  Besides the t-shirt part, notice at the end of the clip how Obama denies that the American people have rejected his health care plan.  He claims that Americans actually want his health care plan, they just don’t like the “sausage making” process in Washington.  While Obama is correct in stating that people don’t like how things are done in DC, he is incorrect in stating that Americans want his health care plan.  In fact, 61% of Americans want Congress to drop health care.  I think he is in denial about this.  Of course, that goes along with being self absorbed.

With Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, the only viable option left to Democrats in regards to health care is for the house to pass the Senate version of the bill without making any changes to it.  I thought there was a good chance of this happening, but I may have been wrong.  A day or two ago, Nancy Pelosi seemed very confident that the Congress would pass health care legislation in time for Obama’s State of the Union.  However, today she made an interesting statement about health care,

I don’t think it’s possible to pass the Senate bill in the House,” Pelosi told reporters after a morning meeting with her caucus. “I don’t see the votes for it at this time.

If the House doesn’t pass the Senate version of the bill in it’s entirety, an amended bill would have to be sent back to the Senate for passage.  The Democrats, thanks to Scott Brown and the voters of Massachusetts, no longer have the 60 votes needed to stop a Republican filibuster, so an amended bill would most likely die in the Senate.  This means there is little chance of health care passing.

Is it possible that the 2000 plus page health care bill is finally dead?  After all the angry town hall meetings and protests, after all the polls showing plummeting support for the legislation along with plummeting support for Obama and Congress.. is it really over?  Have enough democrats in the House woken up to the fact that they were destroying their political careers by following the Obama, Pelosi, and Reid agenda?  It appears so, but I am still a little skeptical.  While I am hopeful that this battle is finally won, it’s still a little to early to celebrate.  Never underestimate liberal trickery.

Wouldn’t it be great though if health care was given it’s final blow by the Democrat stronghold of Massachusetts?