Four GOP Principles for the healthcare summit

First, they should immediately push for the removal of all special deals for
industry or for politicians. No Pharma deal, no Cornhusker Kickback, no
Louisiana Purchase, nothing added in that didn’t go through rigorous scrutiny
and fair process.

Second, they should demand that whatever passes adhere strictly to the
Constitution. The individual mandate, for example, has broad constitutional
implications. If the federal government can force taxpayers to buy health
insurance from a private company, what will stop them from forcing taxpayers to
eat five servings of broccoli a week?

Third, they should demand that the public be invited in through every step of
the process. Go back to regular order, have the conference committee meet in the
open, make the House and the Senate hash out the details in front of the
cameras. Republicans should have done that when they ran the Congress, and all
too often they didn’t. Transparency is the best disinfectant, and the more the
taxpayers learn about these bills, the better off the final legislation will be
in the long run.

Finally, the Republicans should push for incrementalism. Take the five things
that both sides should be able to find agreement on (enacting tort reform,
ending state insurance monopolies, giving more power to consumers, allowing
small businesses to band together to manage risk and cutting down on waste,
fraud and abuse) and pass those things separately. All of these proposals cut down
the costs of healthcare, and may make expanding healthcare access more
affordable in the future.

The Republicans have some good things to talk about when it comes to healthcare
reform, but that doesn’t mean they have to buy whatever the Democrats are
selling. The American people certainly haven’t.

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