President Obama's bipartisan health care summit begins later this morning, but the bickering started weeks ago. Arguments between Republicans and Democrats over what kind of table will be used, the seating arrangements, the frequency of coffee breaks and other minutiae are starting to take center stage even before the conversation about whether or how to reform health care.
Today we're recapping what's happened this week in the debate over health care reform. During a meeting last Saturday, President Obama asked the American people to lower the temperature a little at health care town halls. So-called "death panels," health care co-ops, Republican options, and former DNC chair Dr. Howard Dean were all part of the national conversation, which was topped off with the President’s one-on-one with conservative radio show host Michael Smerconish on Thursday.
For a look at where the debate heads next, we are joined by Jonathan Cohn. He is the Senior editor at The New Republic and author of Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis -- and the People Who Pay the Price. We are also joined by Theda Skocpol, professor of government and sociology at Harvard University, and author of Boomerang: Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government
.
"The analogy that serves best here is: Medicare. It's a version of Medicare for people who aren't over 65. Ask people over 65 what they think of Medicare? They like it a lot."
—Jonathan Cohn, senior editor at The New Republic, on how to simply explain "the public option"