Health Summit gamble

I don’t know how many of you hung with all seven hours or so of the health care summit today. It was grueling, but it also was a rare display of honest debate and confrontation.

I’ve been around politicians a long time. It’s rare for one to seek a compromise in a public setting. Always, there must be a political motive. Obama called this summit for one reason – he’s losing this issue and he needed a forum in which he could use his considerable oratorical skills to win his argument. If the public was on his side, he wouldn’t need summits.
Polls have consistently shown Americans oppose federal health reform efforts. Rasmussen Reports says about 56 percent of Americans oppose it, while only 41 percent favor it. Only 27 percent of voters say they think a comprehensive federal approach is a good idea. Fifty-two percent of unaffiliated voters say they fear the government more than private insurers when it comes to insurance decisions.
For Obama, those are dire numbers, and they speak much louder than a Senate election in Massachusetts, although the loss of a Democratic filibuster-proof majority can’t be overstated.
If you’ve read this blog, you know my feelings. We do have a health care crisis in this country. It has more to do with runaway costs than anything. The House and Senate bills don’t address this, and Obama’s latest idea for Washington to control how much private insurers can raise premiums is offensive. Set up true competitive markets and premiums will take care of themselves. No one in government is as smart as the collective market.
Don’t kid yourself, the summit isn’t going to lead to any compromise. The sides are too far apart, and there are deep philosophical differences. One side of the debate believes the idea itself is unconstitutional.
Obama made it clear at the end of the summit that he intends to ram his ideas through regardless, then let voters cast their judgment in November. I have a hard time believing he would sacrifice his congressional majority for this issue. Keep your eyes on the poll numbers.