President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance at the White House briefing Tuesday afternoon, after speaking with bipartisan Congressional leaders he had invited to the White House to discuss job creation, health care and the economy. At the meeting, the President reiterated his invitation last week for Republicans to join Democrats for a live, televised meeting on health care reform on February 25. (See, DM 11594.) The President has lately been working hard to counter Republican criticism of the Administration and Democratic actions on health care reform. (See, DM 11561.)

Was the storm inside as bad as the snowstorms paralyzing D.C.? Apparently not. In his press briefing, the President said the meeting went well, and those present had "a good and frank conversation."

The President stated at the press briefing that the group touched upon moving forward with health reform. "...as I told the congressional leadership, I'm looking forward to a constructive debate with plans that need to be measured against this test: Does it bring down costs for all Americans as well as for the federal government, which spends a huge amount on health care? Does it provide adequate protection against abuses by the insurance industry? Does it make coverage affordable and available to the tens of millions of working Americans who don't have it right now? And does it help us get on a path of fiscal sustainability?.... Now, bipartisanship depends on a willingness among both Democrats and Republicans to put aside matters of party for the good of the country. I won't hesitate to embrace a good idea from my friends in the minority party, but I also won't hesitate to condemn what I consider to be obstinacy that's rooted not in substantive disagreements but in political expedience."

The President fielded a question regarding House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who had questioned having a conversation about legislation "that can't pass," and Boehner's opinion that the Administration and Democrats should start health care reform from scratch.

Obama responded saying he had told Boehner in the meeting that health care reform had to be a package, with core goals that must be met: controlling costs, curbing insurance abuses, and making health insurance available to those lacking coverage. The President said that Congress already had a "package" together, and that information will be available on the web as the differences between the Senate and House are worked out. He also said he was open to any suggestion from those in either party to accomplish these goals in an easier or less costly manner.

"So I'm going to be starting from scratch in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote these goals," Obama said. "What I will not do, what I don't think makes sense and I don't think the American people want to see, would be another year of partisan wrangling around these issues; another six months or eight months or nine months worth of hearings in every single committee in the House and the Senate in which there's a lot of posturing."

The president said that bipartisanship means that Democrats and Republicans must each give up some proposals.

"But here's the point that I made to John Boehner and Mitch McConnell: Bipartisanship can't be that I agree to all the things that they believe in or want, and they agree to none of the things I believe in and want, and that's the price of bipartisanship, right? But that's sometimes the way it gets presented. But there's got to be some give from their side as well."

In a response on Monday prior to the invitation, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) sent a letter addressed to Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel asking several tough questions, including whether Democrats would take the reconciliation process off the table, if both sides could present experts on the costs of reform, and if special interest groups would be included. The Congressmen also stated that if the meeting was based upon the current reform bills, Republicans will be reluctant to participate.

According to the White House Blog, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs replied in turn to the Republicans: "The President is adamant that we seize this historic moment to pass meaningful health insurance reform legislation...The President looks forward to reviewing Republican proposals that meet the goals he laid out at the beginning of this process, and as recently as the State of the Union Address. He's open to including any good ideas that stand up to objective scrutiny. What he will not do, however, is walk away from reform and the millions of American families and small business counting on it. The recent news that a major insurer plans to raise premiums for some customers by as much as 39 percent is a stark reminder of the consequences of doing nothing," Gibbs said of the news out of California (DM 11607).

Read all the details:

The President's remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/news-conference-president-2910

Reps. Boehner and Cantor's letter: http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=169716

Secretary Gibbs' letter: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog#