Very, very good political move by President Obama.

[asdjrocky]

Asking the pugs to join with him and the Dems on a televised health care forum/debate is a genius move.

It would be great to see real health care reform come of this.

Good move Obama!

[Chipper Chat]

1. But will the right murkans watch it?

Dancing With the Stars might conflict. Or a rerun on AMC of 'Cat Woman.'

[asdjrocky]

4. I know, be we can hope.

We now know for sure our President can out debate the opposition, now let's see him do something with it.

[hisownpetard]

2. Very smart, I agree. That'll be some "must-see" TV for me!

[golddigger]

3. Cool...he's still playing chess.

[asdjrocky]

8. I know what you're saying.

And yeah, most of the time I feel that way, but I'm just kind of being hopeful on this one.

[Peacetrain]

5. Opps I missed that.. just now? It would be a great move..

Their HC act, which they did nothing on during their terms.. looked to be as thin as their 2 page budget they tried to sell.

[asdjrocky]

9. Just reported on MSNBC-

the pug reaction has been cool so far.

[Peacetrain]

10. I bet it has..

:rofl:

[Donnachaidh]

32. I'll bet they'll pull a Garbo and *want to be alone*

The pukes don't want their beliefs televised - it would blow their cover.

[harun]

14. Only HCR they support is Tort reform.

[phantom power]

6. Except that the GOP will tell him to fuck off, and then...

the Dems will continue use their lack of cooperation as their excuse for passing a lame HCR bill. Or failing to pass HCR at all.

[livetohike]

7. The GOP are hesitant to do this because they have no

health insurance reform plans to bring to the table. They'll just go buy another 99 cent store notebook and bring that with them like the last Q&A.

[harun]

11. They have to go though. Otherwise Obama can still have the meeting

and say "Look, we invited the GOP and not only do they have no constructive HCR ideas, but they won't even discuss it".

[livetohike]

20. He's playing them - that's for sure and I like the strategy

They are unprepared and will never be.

[harun]

28. The way I look at it, if the Repub's were in control we would not ever

even be discussing HCR. They would be pimping the next war or tax cut, all day every day.

Making the debate be about HCR is rubbing there nose in it. Which I would be in favor of if I felt more confident they will eventually pass something. At this point I am not so sure. As we saw with the MA election many Dem's were ready to fold because of just one election swing.

[quiet.american]

15. "99 cent store notebook" -- lol! Damn, you nailed it. nt

[polichick]

12. It'll be TV viewing worthy of...

:popcorn: :toast:

[timeforpeace]

13. You can't have a blame game with only one side involved. They may fall for it.

[ProgressOnTheMove]

16. I'd like to see Obama go to GOP congress members townhall meetings too so he can take them head on.

Unannounced would be best.

[thereismore]

17. They'll say no, and then they'll still say that dems are not listening to them. nt

[sandnsea]

18. Guess I'm a genius then

Been saying that ever since the GOP smackdown.

[FrenchieCat]

19. I'd like to see a bunch of empty chairs with Rethuglican names on them

on C-Span. That would be helpful!

[instantkarma]

21. puts them in a no-win situation

They can turn him down and be seen as rejecting his efforts to reach out to them.

They can show up and once again be exposed for having no meaningful ideas.

[BlueIdaho]

22. The thugs have no plans...

Its obvious they do not want any sort of reform so they have never actually developed any meaningful proposals. Now America will see that (a) they like health care just the way it is and (b) they are owned by the corporations that ARE directly responsible killing grandma.

[dave29]

23. They will show up and berate him nonstop

for not listening to them originally. I imagine he will be expecting this

[babylonsister]

31. And he'll just point out some of the few rethug amendments

included in the bill, although he will have memorized all of them.

[Arkana]

35. I'm sure that's exactly what he's expecting.

Axelrod and co. aren't idiots. They know what's going on.

[cadmium]

24. Get expectations down a little. Repugs will

be far more prepared for this than they were when he clobbered them last Friday

[AlinPA]

39. You can bet they are rehearsing for the big show now.

[SPedigrees]

25. I'll settle for a beginning of reform,

particularly an end to claim denial over pre-existing conditions.

[asdjrocky]

33. I hear you.

I did say it was a political move. Let's see if real reform may come of it.

My hopes aren't high.

[TheKentuckian]

26. Sweet! He can give them tort deform for single vote and make a horrible bill

even worse. He already copted the "across state lines"/race to the bottom which was the 2nd leg of their "plan".

[Sheepshank]

27. During the last Republican Q&A smackdown

one of the Reps....(Chaffitz maybe?) chastized Obama for not televising the whole and multiple and various located HCR discussions. Obama agreed it was something that needs fixing...he's attempting to fix it;) All I can say is, be careful for what you wish, Republicans!

[TheKentuckian]

29. He can smak those nimrods around because even if they have half a brain

they can't let on or they lose street cred with the mouthbreathers and of course they lack any ideas as Obama has already co-opted the only health bill they've come up with in the past 30 years.

[Phx_Dem]

30. I see no downside for Obama or the Dems!

The GOP, on the other hand, is boxed in and totally fucked.

They can skip it and look like chickenshits or they can show up and say no. What they can't do is show and and agree with the Dems -- wingnuts and teabaggers will bury them. If they throw out one of their "brilliant" ideas, Obama is going to make them stand up and provide specific details -- which they never have.

There is nothing good in this for the GOP.

Sweet.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

41. I totally agree with your assessment

While the Republicans led by Senator Jim DeMint want to play "Napoleonic Wars" and try to make HCR Obama's "waterloo", Obama may very well have set up the perfect "checkmate". The Republicans may soon realize that they have been playing the wrong game all along.

I see absolutely no upside for them in this and we may well get HCR and (if I may be ridiculously hopeful for a moment), the downfall of the GNOP out of all of this.

[CatWoman]

34. Big Ed just said that the Republicans are refusing to have the meeting/

debate televised.

[Dappleganger]

36. They need to either put up or shut up...

and we know that putting up isn't going to happen.

[MadMaddie]

37. Republicans will not join any televised event

They are cowards.

[AlinPA]

38. Here we go, another year of stalling. Make that 9 months; after November

McConnell and Boehner will control the agenda.

[Wednesdays]

40. Maybe not. You know who the corporate press will say who "won"

We have to stop deluding ourselves into thinking the fix isn't already in. :puke:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

42. His Q & A with the House Republicans wasn't spun as a "triumph" for the GNOP

The deck may be stacked against us but 2006 and 2008 proved that it's not impossible for us to win with the proper amount of momentum that no amount of "liberal media bias" and/or electronic voter manipulation can overcome.