Posted by Tina
The president held a summit last week, the White House Health Care Summit, where he decalred, It’s conceivable that there are other ideas out there that we have not thought of. But Philip Klein of the American Spectator has an observation that illustrates the fecklessness of the presidents remark:
Ostracized by Obama, by Philip Klein The American Spectator
** President Obama has used events such as community discussion groups and last week’s summit to foster the impression that he is soliciting opinions from all angles of the health care debate, but the reality is a lot different. Obscured by the Administration’s theatrics is the fact that it has kept at bay those who advocate free-market solutions rather than government-run health care. **
** The guest list to the summit was a telling sign. Despite having representatives from 169 different labor, industry, and policy organizations, the White House did not invite any organizations that advocate a consumer-based free-market approach to health care. *** Progressive organizations such as the Center for American Progress, Health Care for America NOW!, and Campaign for America’s Future were represented, but pro-market groups such as the Cato Institute, Consumers for Health Care Choices, the Galen Institute, or the Council for Affordable Health Insurance were not. *** “They brought in the health care establishment to basically divvy up the pie, and consumers were left out of it entirely,” lamented Greg Scandlen, president of Consumers for Health Care Choices. “This is all predetermined and orchestrated to get the result they want.” **
Please read this insightful article. It also contains personal accounts from citizens in the health care field who participated in the community health care reform meetings that then President-elect Obama called for last December. Obama claims he is looking for solutions that work in public…in private he has already dismissed ideas that do not conform to the nationalized, single payer solution he wants.