GOP Demands Reid & Pelosi Disavow Healthcare Deals

Human Events:

by Connie Hair
Posted 02/12/2010 ET
Updated 02/12/2010 ET


House Republicans turned up the heat today on Democrats over the President’s proposed February 25 health care summit. Reports have surfaced that while Obama is trying to create an appearance of “bipartisanship” in summoning leaders to the White House to try to breathe life into health care, Democrats in Congress are already working out a deal behind closed doors that they will push through using the budget reconciliation process.

House Republican Leader John Boehner, Republican Whip Eric Cantor and House Republican Caucus Chairman sent a letter today to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking them to confirm or deny the reports of backroom deals and reconciliation hijinks:

February 12, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510


The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Mr. Leader and Madam Speaker:

As you know, we welcomed the President’s call for bipartisan health care talks. The American people have made it clear that they strongly oppose the comprehensive health care bills you have passed and want them shelved in favor of a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses.

Given the President’s statement that he is “open to any ideas” at the proposed summit, it is our responsibility as congressional leaders to see that the views of our Members and our constituents will be heard in good faith. The existence of any kind of backroom deal among the White House and Democratic Leaders would certainly make a mockery of the President’s stated desire to have a “bipartisan” and “transparent” dialogue on this issue.

To that end, we were taken aback by a report in the Tuesday, February 9 edition of Politico stating that President Obama “hopes to walk into the Feb. 25 summit with an agreement in hand between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on a final Democratic bill, so they can move ahead with a reform package after the sit-down.”

We were further taken aback by a report in CongressDaily later the same day in which an aide to the Speaker, appearing at the National Health Policy Conference, described the legislative “trick” Democratic Leadership intends to use to jam through a “pre-negotiated” health care bill. It has also been reported that other congressional aides present concurred with this assessment.

Additionally, the Christian Science Monitor reported today that special interest groups are calling for Democrats to finalize a deal in advance of the proposed summit.

To ensure we can move forward in good faith, we ask that you publicly disavow these reports and assure the American people that Democratic Leadership is not putting together any kind of backroom deal or plotting any kind of legislative trickery to pass it. Your response will help clarify whether Democratic Leadership is serious about genuine bipartisan negotiations and whether the proposed summit will be a truly open forum or merely an intramural exercise.

We appreciate your immediate response in this matter and look forward to further efforts to foster bipartisan cooperation.

Sincerely,

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
House Republican Caucus Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN