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HOUSE GOP RESPONDS TO OBAMA SUMMIT INVITATION: Here?s an excerpt. We welcome President Obama?s?

By Glenn Reynolds

HOUSE GOP RESPONDS TO OBAMA SUMMIT INVITATION: Here’s an excerpt.

We welcome President Obama?s announcement of forthcoming bipartisan health care talks. In fact, you may remember that last May, Republicans asked President Obama to hold bipartisan discussions on health care in an attempt to find common ground on health care, but he declined and instead chose to work with only Democrats. Since then, the President has given dozens of speeches on health care reform, operating under the premise that the more the American people learn about his plan, the more they will come to like it. Just the opposite has occurred: a majority of Americans oppose the House and Senate health care bills and want them scrapped so we can start over with a step-by-step approach focused on lowering costs for families and small businesses. . . .

We cannot help but notice that each of the President?s recent bipartisan overtures has been coupled with harsh, misleading partisan attacks. For instance, the President decries Republican ?obstruction? when it was Republicans who first proposed bipartisan health care talks last May.

The President says Republicans are ?sitting on the sidelines? just days after holding up our health care alternative and reading from it word for word. The President has every right to use his bully pulpit as he sees fit, but this is the kind of credibility gap that has the American people so fed up with business as usual in Washington.We look forward to receiving your answers and continuing to discuss ways we can move forward in a bipartisan manner to address the challenges facing the American people.

Ouch. Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: Richard Fernandez on what’s behind Obama’s change in attitude.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).