Summit Shows Need to Start Over
In 1945, President Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill held a summit in Yalta to determine what post war Europe would look like. All agreed that Germany must unconditionally surrender. Each leader though had a different agenda and the summit took a week to complete. And still not everyone was happy.
Summits are held to iron out the differences in details. In Washington last week, there was a summit between the President, Congressional Democrats and Congressional Republicans. Unlike Yalta though, no agreements came out of it.
Before the summit, the President released a new healthcare bill that looked a lot like the others we have already seen. Its cost was estimated to be nearly $1 trillion dollars. Like the other bills before it, this bill taxes too much, costs too much and relies too much on big government. The President seemed to think that a fresh coat of paint would make Americans forget that he was trying to sell them a lemon.
I believe the only way to accomplish any health insurance reform this year is to throw out the 2,000 page bills and start over. There are areas that all parties agree on. We all want to eliminate the discrimination against pre-existing conditions, increase access to health insurance for millions of Americans and help hold down costs.
If President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill could find room to agree on world affairs, then surely Republicans and Democrats can find a solution that we all agree on.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves