House GOP Leader John Boehner Threw Obama a Curveball With a Demand for an Invite for Democratic Dissenter Bark Stupak to the Health Care Summit Tomorrow
In an attention-grabbing move on the eve of tomorrow’s day-long health care summit between Obama and the GOP, House GOP Leader John Boehner has issued a demand, via letter, that Obama invite Democratic House Member Bart Stupak (D-Mi.). Stupak yesterday called the Obama Health Plan, as released on Monday, “unacceptable” because the “President’s proposal encompasses the Senate language allowing public funding of abortion.” A key portion of Boehner’s letter:
I write today to respectfully ask that you invite Rep. Stupak to participate in the February 25 health care summit so that the will of the American people – and that of a bipartisan majority in the House – on the critical issue of life will be appropriately represented during the discussion.
Regrettably, millions of Americans are already deeply skeptical about the February 25 summit. They have noted with disappointment the decision by the White House to use the existing legislation as the starting point for the discussion – despite the fact that the current bills are opposed by a majority of the American people – rather than starting the discussion with a clean sheet of paper. They have noted with consternation the White House decision to exclude governors and state legislators representing states that will bear the heaviest burdens if the current legislation is enacted. Including Representative Stupak in the February 25 discussion, by contrast, would send a signal that the White House respects the views of a majority of Americans and a bipartisan majority of the House on the critical issue of life.
Boehner’s letter also mentions the GOP’s request earlier this week that Governors be invited to the health care summit, and such request was also denied by the White House according to Politico today:
The White House has denied a request by Hill Republicans to include governors at tomorrow’s Blair House health care summit, according to a spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
“The White House has apparently decided not to allow any of America’s governors to attend the health care ‘summit’ tomorrow,” wrote Boehner spokesman Michael Steel in an email.
“We are disappointed to announce that the White House has advised Leader Boehner that its expectation is that congressional leaders will appoint only Members of Congress as their representatives at the summit, on the grounds that the discussion is ‘about legislation.’ … [H]e is disappointed the White House has excluded our nation’s governors and state legislators from the summit.”
A White House spokesman hasn’t responded to a request for comment.
Obama faces a difficult choice in whether to agree to the GOP’s desire for Stupak’s attendance. If Obama denies the request, part of the narrative over the next twenty four hours will be the White House’s exclusion of Stupak. If Obama accepts the request, than Stupak’s “unacceptable” comment and likely more comments from Stupak about abortion will be part of the media reporting. As Obama has already denied the request for Governor attendance, our guess is that Obama will simply ignore this latest GOP demand regarding Stupak and hope the issue of abortion funding via Obamacare gains little traction in the coming days.
