The White House has begun its health care counter-offensive. You can read the Obama health plan here. The administration leaked its plans to establish price controls to the New York Times here. The health care summit, which will give kabuki theatre a bad name, is February 25. On Sunday, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky signaled he will attend.
Obama’s new, improved plan is more expensive than the Senate bill, does not address the concerns of pro-life House Democrats over the Senate’s abortion language, maintains the tax exemption for the Democrats’ union friends, and will effectively turn insurance companies into heavily regulated public utilities. Despite all this, it’s highly possible these changes could win at least 50 votes in the Senate — and with Joe Biden’s tie-breaking vote, the bill could become law through the parliamentary measure known as reconciliation.
