By: John ShafferThursday February 11, 2010 Fresh from the afterglow of President Obama's visit to the House Republican conference and his appearance before the Senate Democrats, both of which were televised, the President has invited leaders of both parties to a summit at Blair House. Winston Churchill once said "jaw-jaw is better than war-war," meaning that talking over problems is better than fighting over them, and we hope that this summit results in a determination by both political parties, by the Congress and by the President to solve the nation's problems. We doubt this will happen; for one thing, there are folks on both sides who are not willing to compromise on major principles. The President has said he is willing to start from scratch - but also that he will demand that Republicans show him their plans to insure 30 million people and to provide ways they can support most of the rest of his positions. If he has established the destination and is willing to compromise only on the road map, this summit will not work. The Republicans are not going to vote for "Obama lite," and they are not going to bail him out of the hole he is in. Conversely, the President is not going to abandon his fundamental ideas, and it will be greatly surprising if Democrats in Congress will fall meekly in step with any deal he may reach - after all, they have their own priorities and principles and pressures.

We agree, it would be best if we "started from scratch" on health care reform, and the starting point should be that we will not do anything we cannot afford to pay for. Despite the President's declarations, it often is best to "say no." Families have to do so when faced with desirable things they can't afford, companies and businesses have to do so, and local governments have to do so. It is long past time for the federal government to do so as well.

The cost of the health care reform as presently constituted is something we cannot afford (and let's stop believing the myth that it will ...ahem .. reduce the deficit by $120 billion - any deficit reduction in the Obama care bill is based on flawed assumptions, deceptive calculations, massive tax hikes and huge shifts of expenses to consumers and to the states).

This summit will be a good thing if the parties say things such as "we can't afford it," "we don't have the money," "we can't pay for it," and then agree to do things that actually reduce costs, open up markets, stress personal responsibility, and put the consumer in control, not the government in control. It will not be a good sign if the folks at the summit say things such as "we have to find ways to get this done," "we can't afford not to do it," "we won the election," or "we have never been so close - we must succeed," and then champion the "big government" approach or decide that somebody can afford to pay more taxes, then it will fail.

There are plenty of ways to reform the present health insurance system without breaking the bank. Let's try them instead of embracing the ones that will bankrupt our government.

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