Health Care Redux

By Jonathan Karl: It’s a gambit President Obama hopes is more like the Saints’ onside kick to start the second half than Peyton Manning’s 4th quarter interception. The President plans to convene a half-day meeting with Republicans and Democrats – with the CSPAN cameras rolling – to talk about the way forward on health care. It’s a bold move to revive health care reform, but also a risky one. Remember:  The President predicted a Colts victory, but he was rooting for the Saints. The President announced the health care meeting during a Super Bowl pre-game interview with Katie Couric, giving his strongest post-Massachusetts indication that the battle over comprehensive health care reform is not over. “I want to come back,” the President said in a live interview with Katie Couric, “and have a large meeting — Republicans and Democrats — to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward.” The meeting will take place on February 25 across the street from the White House at Blair House, reports Jake Tapper.  The White House says the President is “anxious” to see and debate Republican ideas, but, in a background statement on the meeting made it clear this is not about starting over:  ”What the President will not do is let this moment slip away.  He hopes to have Republican support in doing so – but he is going to move forward on health reform.” Privately, some Congressional Democrats want the moment to slip away so they focus on a higher priority:  economic recovery.  The renewed White House push injects new life into the health care effort, but also raises the prospects of another drawn-out health care debate just as Democrats are hoping to move the Congressional agenda back to jobs.  Senate Democrats hoped to unveil the first in a series of jobs bills today, but the Washington blizzard has pushed that back a day.
Party of Probably Not?  House Republican leader John Boehner says he is pleased the President “finally” seems interested in real bi-partisan talks, but: “The American people have overwhelmingly rejected both of the job-killing trillion-dollar government takeover of health care bills passed by the House and Senate,” Boehner said, suggesting that the “best way to start on real, bipartisan reform would be to scrap those bills and focus on the kind of step-by-step improvements that will lower health care costs and expand access.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell: “The fact is Senate Republicans held hundreds of town halls and met with their constituents across the country last year on the need for health care reform, outlining ideas for the step-by-step approach that Americans have asked for.  And we know there are a number of issues with bipartisan support that we can start with when the 2,700-page bill is put on the shelf.” Palin-mania.  It was quite a weekend for Fox News analyst Sarah Palin.  Following her Saturday keynote at the Tea Party convention in Nashville, Palin did her first-ever Sunday show interview and declared it would be “absurd” for her not to consider running for President in 2012.  “I would,” she answered when Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday asked if she’d consider running.  “I would if I believed that that is the right thing to do for our country and for the Palin family. Certainly, I would do so.” Palin also suggested it was okay for Rush Limbaugh to use the word “retard”, but not Rahm Emanuel. Palin’s crib sheet.  The Huffington Post takes a closer look at the palm of Sarah Palin’s hand, where, during the tea-party convention in Nashville, she seems to have jotted down a few notes to help her during the q&a session. Lone Star Match-Up:  Palin vs. Cheney?  AP’s Michael Graczyk reports Sara Palin spent Super Bowl Sunday campaigning in Texas for Governor Rick Perry:  ”Palin said Texas and Alaska had some ‘really sweet connections, … independent pioneer-spirited people and big wide open spaces.’ “‘A lot of us in our states proudly cling to our guns and religion,’ she told a cheering crowd. “Hutchison, asked about the Palin appearance, pointed to her own support from the likes of former Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush, who she said would be campaigning for her. “‘I’m just running my campaign, and I’m very proud of my endorsements,’ she said.” Speaking of Cheney I will be interviewing the former Vice President next Sunday on ‘This Week.’ This exclusive interview will be Cheney’s first interview in 2010 and his first in nearly a yea Richard Clarke accuses Republicans of seeking political advantage by attacking President Obama on terrorism “often with total disregard for the facts.” “They are wrong on the facts and they are wrong morally to attempt to make political gain on the damage inflicted by terrorism,” Clarke writes in an op-ed in Sundays’ NY Daily News.  “There may well be another successful terrorist attack in the U.S. someday soon. No system can stop all of the attempts all of the time; ask Israel. When and if that attack does come, let us hope the American people will reject any attempt to make it a partisan issue. It is not conduct worthy of real patriots.” Despite loud GOP complaints after the fact, White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan says Republicans were in the loop on the decision to prosecute Christmas bomber Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. He said he briefed four Republican Congressional leaders on Christmas evening. “None of those individuals raised any concerns with me, at that point,” Brennan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “They didn’t say, ‘Is he going into military custody? Is he going to be Mirandized?’ They were very appreciative of the information. We told them we’d keep them informed. And that’s what we did.” Politico’s Mike Allen and Eamon Javers:  “The revelation could undermine Republican complaints about the decision to treat the Nigerian suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, as a civilian criminal. “But Brennan’s comment provoked sharp rebukes from the Republicans who received the briefings, who all stressed that the conversation did not include a discussion of Miranda rights, though none claimed to have asked about that issue. “‘This was like a three- or four-minute phone call,’” Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) told POLITICO on Sunday. Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said, “‘At no point did he ever talk to me about legal strategies.’” Welcome to Washington, Senator Brown.  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tells Jake Tapper on This Week that Scott Brown is wrong about the stimulus. Toyota Troubles for Bushies?  Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform says he has “serious concerns” about whether the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration under Bush Administration was negligent in its handling of safety concerns at Toyota.  He wants committee chairman Rep. Edolphus Towns to call Bush Administration officials, including former Secretaries of Transportation Norm Mineta and Mary Peters to testify on the issue: ” With unresolved complaints documenting incidents of unintended acceleration in Toyota model vehicles as early as 2003, I have serious concerns about the agency’s actions under the previous administration,” Issa writes in a letter to Towns today. “I agree it is important to hear from current administration officials to better understand how the government has responded to the current recalls however; the pattern of negligence extends beyond the tenure of those currently in positions of authority. ” Sad News for Illinois Political Reporters.  Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reports that Scott Lee Cohen, the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor of Illinois, is dropping out.  That means you won’t be reading paragraphs like this anymore:  “Cohen, a millionaire pawnbroker and cleaning supplies company executive who emerged the victor in last week’s primary, had been accused of holding a knife to the neck of his ex-girlfriend, a prostitute, in 2005. “It has also been revealed in recent days that Cohen had once been accused of abusing an ex-wife. Cohen has also acknowledged using steroids for a period of time.” Jonathan Martin’s favorite detail in this story:  Cohen announced his decision to drop out at the Far North Side Bar in Chicago (during the Super Bowl halftime show). Superbowl halftimeTweet: @KevinMaddenDC  next year’s 1/2 time show: The Doors. Just need some smelling salts and a space heater for Jim Morrison.
Kicker “I doubt there is another public figure in our country who gives liberals a bigger case of the hives than our special guest today.  At the very mention of her name, the liberals, the progressives, the media elites, they literally foam at the mouth.”
  – Governor Rick Perry (R-TX), talking about Sarah Palin, literallyFor up-to-the-minute political updates check out The Note’s blog . . . all day every day: