Here is what Speaker Pelosi had to say about the health care reform bill (pay attention to the bolded part):

“You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.”

Um, did Nancy just admit that she doesn’t know what is in the bill or that she could prove opposition wrong after winning???? Surely she will backtrack later and qualify this statement. However, perhaps this Freudian slip is exactly what it is: an unconscious (’dynamically repressed’) slip-up or, as we like to call it, the truth.

Before Washington Democrats move to push through their reform plan without the support of the American public or 51 (if not more) of their elected colleagues in the Senate let alone the House, they should at least be able to tell us exactly what their so-called reform will bring us.

Or maybe we should do as the Speaker suggests and just step aside and hope she is right. Hmmm, that seems unlikely and not how good public policy is made.

Then-Senator Barack Obama (D-IL): “The TANF program affects millions of American children and families and deserves a full and fair debate. Under the rules, the reconciliation process does not permit that debate. Reconciliation is therefore the wrong place for policy changes and the wrong place for the proposed changes to the TANF program. In short, the reconciliation process appears to have lost its proper meaning. A vehicle designed for deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility has been hijacked to facilitate reckless deficits and unsustainable debt.” (Sen. Obama, Congressional Record, S .14150, 12/20/05)

Hmmm, reconciliation is the “wrong place for policy changes” and “does not permit” debate. We agree. How about you?

However, there was an interesting tidbit Dove volunteered: Vice President Biden, as president of the Senate, could preside over the reconciliation process and make the decision about whether or not something is a budgetary item, even overruling Senate parliamentarian Alan Frumin. This could mean that the Vice President (and by extension the White House) could be empowered to make a call on what is and isn’t allowed under a reconciliation vote. You will recall that reconciliation votes can only be done for legislative questions that have budget ($$$) implications.

As Dove put it: “It is the decision of the vice president whether or not to play a role here.”

According to the survey, Americans are still split on the public option, and they don’t like the idea of requiring everyone in the U.S. to have health insurance.

Here is a breakdown of Democrat, Republican and Independent voters:

- A majority of Republicans questioned, 54 percent, want Congress to start from scratch, with just under 4 in 10 saying lawmakers should halt work on health care reform and just 6 percent saying Congress should pass into law the current legislation.

- Nearly half of all Democrats say Congress should pass legislation similar to the bills passed by both chambers, with nearly 4 in 10 Democrats saying Congress should start from scratch and just 1 in 10 saying lawmakers should stop all work on health care.

- Fifty-two percent of Independents want Congress to start work on a new bill, with 27 percent saying lawmakers should stop all work, and 18 percent saying that the current legislation should be passed into law.

Yes, that’s right, the White House is holding onto the dream of government-run health care. Their proposed national “health insurance authority” would grant czar-like power through federal regulation, basically federal price controls set by politicians, and is just a dressed up path toward a Washington-controlled health care system for all Americans.

While this is by no means a revelation, it does draw a line in the sand for congressional negotiators coming into Thursday’s so-called National Health Care Summit.

The summit will be televised live, of course, and PPF.org expects it will be more political theater than a substantive policy debate. While the cameras roll, our charismatic president will have to use every bit of his powers of persuasion to convince virtually all Republicans (and a growing number of Democrats) that allowing the government to intercede in our health care is the right path to reform.

It’s uncertain that such an ambitious plan can pass…..even with the prospect of reconciliation. If Senate Democrats opt for a reconciliation vote, they will subvert the rules of debate in the Senate and attempt to pass reforms that Americans have clearly said they don’t want. Just when we thought they had learned their lesson with a crushing defeat in Massachusetts, slumping polls and surprise retirements from within their own ranks. It appears, however, that some in Washington just aren’t listening.

As always, PPF.org will continue to monitor and keep you up-to-date.

But it is hard to say exactly what the President and congressional democrats plan to discuss. GOP leaders have already given notice that a fresh start on reform is what they want to talk about and it seems everyday Madam Speaker too isn’t looking to negotiate as she announces various ideas on a “path forward” regardless of how fruitless the plans seem at this point.

So while Washington slumbers under the blanket of record breaking snow, we at PPF.org will wait and watch to see what becomes of this so-called summit scheduled for Feb 25th.

Stay tuned.

As reported by national Canadian media, Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States.

The Premier decided to forgo his country’s own government-run health care system after he and his doctors thought he would be better treated in the US. One comment out of the Premier’s camp said the procedure wasn’t even offered in Canada…. A fact, if true, that doesn’t surprise PPF.org after our education in government-run waiting lists, delays and denials.

As you can image this story has raised eyebrows across Canada as one of their highest office holders apparently is shunning the much celebrated Canadian health care system.

While PPF.org and the rest of America sits around wondering exactly where the Democrats go next in their bungled attempt at reform, we at least can enjoy a laugh and relish the irony that 1 in 10 Provincial leaders in Canada chooses America’s health care system over their own.

All we can say is: “Welcome to America sir, we’re happy to have you.”

Case-in-point: A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll release yesterday found that only three in ten Americans say they want Congress to pass legislation similar to the health care reform bills that have already been approved by the House and Senate. The survey also indicated that nearly half the public, 48 percent, would like federal lawmakers to start work on an entirely new bill, and 21 percent feel Congress should stop working an any bills that would change the country’s health care system.

We have had enough Washington Democrats and hope that the President can show us this evening that he is listening.

Massachusetts voters go to the polls today to decide an unexpectedly close U.S. Senate contest between Democrat Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, and Republican Scott Brown. The special election is for the former Senate seat of longtime statesman Edward M. Kennedy, who died in August.

Hanging in the balance may be the Democrats’ hopes of ramming through their bloated government-run health care proposals.

Listen in to comments from progressive Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) on Morning Joe this morning as he airs the latest pessimism on the Democratic side of the aisle, saying health care may be “dead” if Republican Scott Brown wins the Massachusetts Senate race.

“I think you can make a pretty good argument that health care might be dead,” Weiner said.

Weiner says “it’s going to be very hard” to ask members of the House to vote for the Senate bill.

PPF.org isn’t thrilled about either the House or the Senate bills, as they are both loaded with so-called reforms that will do little more than empower the government to make decisions about our health.

We think Weiner’s comments are an ominous sign that health reform (in its current form) may end up being dead on arrival. Stay tuned as the voters of Massachusetts decide.

GOP Committee head told Fox News, “The definition of irony…. Democratic leaders today emerged from a closed-door meeting to announce a backroom ‘deal’ on health care, then brag about the ‘transparent process.’”

Beyond the sweetheart deal that the White House and House and Senate Democrats cut with their base, PPF.org wonders what is next in this so-called transparent negotiation?

We have serious concerns not only with the a deal that will essentially exempt union plans and strip out billions that is suppose to pay for the Democrats’ plans, but that next up will be a “deal” to sell out American medicine to a mass bureaucracy and Czar-like bureaucrat that will have government fiat power over our health.

It’s time to take a stand. Send a note to all your friends, family and others… tell them to sign up today at www.handsoffmyhealth.org and get ready for the final push to tell Congress we have had enough.