House Minority Leadership, John Boehner and Eric Cantor have answered President Obama’s call! They have agreed to sit down with Democrats and the President to maybe, hopefully, probably not finish this healthcare reform thing. Here’s the thing though, only if some certain completely absurd criteria are met:
1.) “Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward on health care in a bipartisan way, does that mean he will agree to start over?”
2.) “Does that mean he has taken off the table the idea of relying solely on Democratic votes and jamming through health care reform by way of reconciliation?”
3.) “If the President intends to present any kind of legislative proposal at this discussion, will he make it available to members of Congress and the American people at least 72 hours beforehand?”
4.) “Will the President include in this discussion congressional Democrats who have opposed the House and Senate health care bills?”
5.) “Will the President be inviting officials and lawmakers from the states to participate in this discussion?”
6.) “The President has also mentioned his commitment to have ‘experts’ participate in health care discussions….Will those experts include the actuaries at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), who have determined that the both the House and Senate health care bill raise costs?”
7.) “Will the special interest groups that the Obama Administration has cut deals with be included in this televised discussion?”
8.) “Will the President require that any and all future health care discussions, including those held on Capitol Hill, [be televised]?”
Might as well add on to that with, “9) A brown sack full of fucking money.” and, “10) You let us completely rewrite the bill the way we want it and sign it into law, bitch.”