GOP Leader John Boehner Is Suddenly Skeptical Of Those C-SPAN Cameras

When Barack Obama‘s campaign pledge of a transparent and C-SPAN covered debate over health care reform failed to materialize, he was fairly pilloried by both right and left-wing critics. Since then, he’s invited party leaders – and C-SPAN cameras – for a White House health care negotiation. Last night House Minority leader John Boehner sat down with Greta Van Susteren to discuss this suggested summit, and sounded pretty skeptical of the potential for political theater.

Last Sunday, President Obama announced plans to invite party leaders to the White House on February 25th to go over the “best ideas” on health care reform. C-SPAN cameras are invited to capture both the reconciliation between House and Senate bills, and the opportunity for Republicans to suggest their alternatives to either bill.

What would make for fascinating television, may never come to pass, if one judges Boehner’s comments in a pessimistic light. Some key phrases heard by Boehner throughout the interview: “I want to have this bipartisan conversation but I want it to be productive and real. I don’t want to walk into some trap. I don’t want to walk into some political event. I want to walk in and have a real conversation about what we can do to make our current system work better.”

Please, please, please go to the White House. Let C-SPAN into the negotiation and let us watch the back-and-forth. It would likely be the most highly rated program in the history of C-SPAN! Transcript of this exchange is after the video:

Transcript:

GVS: February 25th, do you intend to go to this bipartisan meeting that the president is calling and having televised at the white house?

JB: I want to have a bipartisan conversation with the president about how to fix our health care system. Eric Cantor and I sent a letter to Rahm Emanuel posing questions about what is this? The white house let us know about an hour before the American people saw this in his interview Sunday afternoon.

GVS: So it’s a stunt?

JB: I don’t know. That’s what we are trying to get to the bottom of.

GVS: What would it take for to you go to that February 25th?

JB: I want to have this bipartisan conversation but I want it to be productive and real. I don’t want to walk into some trap. I don’t want to walk into some political event. I want to walk in and have a real conversation about what we can do to make our current system work better.

GVS: if the President says we are starting with this bill, I’m the president I get to make those decisions it is my meeting we are starting with the bill we are not going to scrap it, are you going to go?

JB: we’ll see. I want to do everything I can to make it as productive as possible.

GVS: what do you make of the fact it is televised? The American people are probably delighted.

JB: I think that is fine is this a political event or a real conversation?

GVS: we’ve been hammering them about the transparent.

JB: The president said put everything on C-Span we couldn’t criticize him when he does.

I want to make sure we are going to have an honest bipartisan conversation about how we can approach this. I don’t want to walk that some set-up. I don’t know who is going to be there. I don’t know how big the room is going to be. I don’t know what the set-up is gonna be. On behalf of the American people, we’ve asked the white house, just scrap this bill. Let’s start over. I think that’s where most Americans are on this I want to — on this bill. I want to continue to push the white house to do this.

GVS: he says he’s not going to scrap it. He says it is his meeting. The city going to be televised so the republican leadership needs to make a decision. Do we go or not? Do we go hoping he is going to scrap it? If we don’t he’s going to have cameras sitting there with democrats and say where are the republicans?

JB: it is the president of the United States. When he offers an invitation to go to the white house, naturally, you want to go I’m just trying to make sure this is as productive and honest a conversation as possible.

GVS: what are you gonna do to do that? We know what he’s got in mine.

JB: find out what the starting point is.

GVS: he said the starting point.

JB: Are Democrats opposed are they going to be invited? Are the lobbyists going to be there? There are a number of questions I’d like to have answered, before I give you or the president a straight up or down answer.

GVS: any idea how many people are invited?

JB: I have no idea.

GVS: no idea?

JB: No.

GVS: you heard about in an hour before the president announced you have been invited?

JB: Yes shortly thereafter they announced it was all going to be on TV. I want to know what I’m getting into before I get there.

GVS: you expect to get an answer to the letter you sent to Rahm Emanuel? A lot of republican congressmen have sent letters – do you expect an answer?

JB: I expect to have some answers before we go down there and walk into who knows what.

GVS: when do you expect that answer? We are moving up on the 25th?

JB: it is a couple weeks away; let’s give them a little time. Get let us know when you get –

GVS: Let us know when you get your answer.

JB: I will.

GVS: We are anxious. I hope you ask what happened with that deal with senator Ben Nelson because we are curious. We don’t know if it is a good idea or bad idea because we don’t know how it went down.

JB: there’s talk from the white house that they are trying to meld the house and senate bills together. Wait a minute if you’ve got a new bill are you going to let the American people and let republicans see this for 72 hours before we get to the white house? I don’t want walk down there and they present us with a new bill we’ve never seen before.

GVS: I would think 72 hours is short for 2700 pages. That’s a lot of cramming.

JB: they better give us a week.

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