Eric Cantor: My Way Or The Highway!

This pretty much sums it up regarding the Can'tor/Boner-(mis)led Republican Party.

Eric Cantor’s office responds to Obama’s announcement of a bipartisan summit on health care with the most explicit and direct assertion I’ve seen yet that the only way Dems can win bipartisan cooperation is to fully embrace the GOP health care plan and nothing more...

After going it alone on health care reform for nearly a year, President Obama has decided he wants to bring Republicans into the conversation. Here’s the problem: unless the President and Speaker Pelosi are willing to scrap their government take over and hit the reset button, there’s not much to talk about.

Republicans believe the status quo is unacceptable, but so is any health reform package that spends money we don’t have or raises taxes on small businesses and working families in a recession. To that point, House Republicans have offered the only plan, that will lower health care costs, which is what the President said was the goal at the start of this debate.

I’m not sure if it could be made any more explicit than that.

No, it couldn't be "any more explicit than that." The question is, does the White House "get it?" Or, have they succumbed to Tim Kaine Disease, the symptoms of which include terminal, rose-colored optimism; arrogance; groupthink; no fixed principles you're willing to fight for; and of course the dreaded Cult of Bipartisanship, even when Republicans outright say that they want you to fail!?!

On health reform, President Obama can offer as many "bipartisan" olive branches, summits or Q's and A's as he wants, but is there any indication whatsoever that it's going to get him anywhere? I'd say the chances are somewhere between slim and Joe Loserman. The bottom line for the White House is that it's long past time to acknowledge reality (including that Republicans are not a serious negotiating partner), cut loose the "dead wood" loose (perhaps including Rahm Emanuel, who clearly hasn't gotten accomplished what he was hired for), take on the forces that need to be fought, and get the job done or at least go down swinging. If not, then Eric Can'tor will have his way, and the rest of us will be road kill on the highway.