Obama Will Host Bipartisan Health Care Talks—on TV

President Obama will discuss the future of health care reform with both Republicans and Democrats in a televised meeting later this month. Obama is looking to make good on two campaign pledges that critics say he has neglected since taking office: engaging in meaningful bipartisan negotiations and doing so with unparalleled transparency. Obama has been criticized for not broadcasting the health care negotiations on C-SPAN, as he promised to do on the stump.

Obama acknowledged that he wanted to “look at the Republican ideas that are out there" and "arrive at some agreements" in order to expedite the process—but said he would not heed Republican calls to abandon the bill and start from scratch, Politico reports. House Republican Leader John Boehner said he was "pleased that the White House finally seems interested in a real, bipartisan conversation on health care." He added, however, that Americans simply "don't like" the policies proposed in the Democrats' bills.
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