It appears that they're still making opening remarks. Harry Reid is speaking, telling the Republicans to come up with a better plan if they don't like this one.

Joe Biden looks likes he'd rather be drinking a beer.

The President actually seems to be leading the meeting, is "yelling" at everyone about going over their alloted time for opening remarks.

It's so cute that the President has a placecard that says "President". As if we didn't know.

Obama is talking about trying to bridge differences and that he hopes that he and the Republicans can come to some form of agreement. He sounds quite reasonable, so I'm giving his idea about 60/40 chance of happening.

The first subject he's mentioning is the high cost of healthcare and how it completely sucks.

McCain is looks like he's thinking "I shoulda beat that one".

Obama and Senator Lamar Alexander are mixing it up over what the facts are on the cost of coverage. The President seems to be specifically calling him "Lamar" as opposed to Senator. It's a bit contentious, with each trying to interrupt each other. President wins, 'cause he's the President, LAMAR.

President wants to know what Lamar thinks is good in the bill, instead of thinking it all sucks.

Alexander is speaking now and pointedly says he's refusing to argue in public about it, will instead give the President some documents to look over. Obama says ok, that's fine, but I'm pretty sure I'm right and i think we can figure out by the end of the day whether premiums actually rise in Obama's bill.

Alexander yields to Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who says 55% vs 33% of the American populace doesn't like the bill, which doesn't get challenged. McConnell then yields to Senator Coburn, who is doctor and plays up the fact that Coburn is a doctor.

Coburn wants to look at why health care costs so much, thinks 15-20% of federal run healthcare is due to fraud, wants to go after all that fraud going on.

Obama is busy taking notes on it all. Hardly Presidential per se, but looking very hard working.

Coburn is big on the fraud angle, thinks fixing that would make health care instantly affordable (cites a figure of 15 billion per year in New York alone) and wants to know why we don't go after that.

Wants "undercover" patients, so doctor's won't know who's a real patient and who isn't, so they'll be on their toes about being less fraudulent. I kid you not.

Oh, the President is referring to all the Senators by first name. Weird.

Now that's a job I want. Professional undercover patient.

"Massage therapists this week? AWESOME."

But for every massage therapist, there's probably a proctologist that needs investigation. Perhaps I should think about this some more...

Democratic Senator is speaking now (can't see his name tag(, has been saying Coburn has some points, but if he's so concerned about bringing cost down, then who about that Public option to spur competition? Hee hee.

Obama chimes in, noting Coburn's idea about fraud and thinking that it's good to go after fraud, so maybe we could include more of that. Also said he's open to the "undercover patient" idea, which is really WTH. The Republicans don't want "gubment run healthcare" but want a secret health care police?!

oops, personal break for me, back soon.

If it's a token bone to throw them and get past a phony objection, sure, why not?

If it means undercover agents, meaning guns in hospitals, near oxygen tanks and such, and perhaps this requires some closer examination.

But yeah, it probably makes perfect sense to a Republican. Undercover patients sent to root out medical fraud is simply public enforcement of private profits, either by eliminating a token amount of fraud, or by causing certain iffy-coverage cases not to walk through the door in the first place.

Back. Obama is pointing out to a Republican Senator (John Kline) that if all they're going to do is repeat what they individually don't like in the bill, nothing much is going to get done, so he hints that the Senator should maybe wrap things up so they can focus on the larger issue of this segment, coming to some agreements on bringing costs down.

It's really interesting to see the President leading and directing the meeting. He's very focused on everyone is here for and gently directing things back on track when they get off track.

Democratic and Republican Senator going back and forth about who should control when a patient goes home.

Mitch McConnell complains that the Republicans have only has 24 minutes of time, while the Democrats have had 52 and he implores that things be kept fair. Some random voice chimes in with "Hey, aren't Republican leaders controlling Republican speaking time?" Obama notes the complaint, thinks it's not quite right, but moves on.

Whoops, there goes the White House feed, seems frozen for the moment.

Republicans and Dems are going back and forth over whether the health care bill will raise premiums. The GOP says it will, Dems say it won't. Senator John Kline (R) is speaking now, saying that all the fees and taxes in the bill will indirectly raise premiums.

Missed a moment or two, but Obama seems to be saying that higher premiums are possible, but it provides much better insurance, while still leaving an option for the individuals to choose something else.

Obama's point seems to be to have a good baseline of healthcare via the exchanges, which may cost more, but find better coverage.

He also notes that he's for National exchanges, as are the Republicans, but the Republicans seem to disagree that there should be that national baseline of decent care, rather than a race to the bottom.

Sentor James Clyburn (D) is speaking now. He's pushing community health care centers, thinks they should be expanded somehow.

Republicans keep bringing up the matter of time, saying they're getting less than the Democrats and that no formal time limit is in place. Guess what's going to be highlighted on Fox News tonight?

Another talking point with the GOP is "The American people" and of course, they're speaking for them.

McCain and Obama just had a back and forth about this, with McCain arguing that the Republican talking points were very important to the American People. Obama replied (paraphrasing) that getting something done as opposed to scoring talking points was probably more important.

Senator Eric Cantor (R) is speaking now. Obama interrupts him to note the mass of paper before him, saying "Let me guess, that's the 2,400 page health care bill?" Ah, tv props. Cantor notes that it's just the Senate bill.

Cantor is saying that if the President really wants to work together, the current bill needs to be scrapped, because damnit, this government sponsored healthcare, which won't allow people to choose has got to go!

Obama again notes the 2,400 page prop and then goes on to note that the government could probably lower the price of food if meat inspectors were eliminated.

Obama notes that the Republicans seem to agree on some sort of regulation and since the Democrats do also, then maybe they can focus on specific laws to do that, but if stage props and scoring of points really doesn't help that.

Cantor responds that the mandate for everyone to have insurance is wrong and unaffordable. He pointedly asks that the President sent aside the legislation.

Joe Biden wakes up and notes that there's no philosophical different here. Either you agree that government can regulate or you don't. If you do, it's just a matter of figuring out the differences and bridging that gap. He's clearly pissed off.

Cantor's issue seems to be that the Health and Human Secretary could define what health insurance and coverage is. Obama notes that is only for those in the exchange, not for those with private insurance. The exchange ends there.

Rep Louse Slaughter is speaking now, clearly angry and making the case for decent health care and abolishing the pre-existing conditions tactic.

Slaughter tells a story of why of constituents who wears her dead sister's dentures, because she can't afford any of her own. Yikes.

The meeting is breaking up until 1:45pm EST, so the House members can go vote on something.

So far, it's not too surprising. Republicans are firmly wedded to certain ideas, such a fraud prevention, worrying about cost, arguing that the mandate is wrong, that the current bills, especially the Senate's amount to a government take over of the health care system.

The Democrats are coming off as fairly reasonable, constantly noting that there's a lot of agreement on issues and wondering what can be done to bridge the gap.

I like and am torn by Obama's lack of political tactics here, the lack of grandstanding. He seems to be trying very hard to work together in the face of clear and almost complete opposition. I would have loved for him to bring up the idea of a Public Option and have the Republicans say no to that, but he's not interested in doing those things. He'll hit back if someone swings at him, but he's clearly not going to overtly pick a fight. Of course, calling this meeting is subtle form of picking a fight, but it's not about fighting just to fight, rather to get something done.

How are you, gentlemen!

I'm going to come over here from the fark thread.

Yeah, he's not posturing or anything, but I didn't think he was going to.

I don't think he was ever going to really push the public option. But I think there's kind of a groundswell coming up for basic federal regulation. That may well lead up to a PO.

...and we're back!

Oh, my. Segregation on the basis of health. That could get a lot of traction.

Good sound bite.

Does Blackburn know what she's talking about?

She thinks so, yes

Biden makes a good point about Social Security being mandated and having to be mandated it order to work. It's entirely reasonable, which sounds strange from Biden's lips.

There they go again, wanting to scrap the current plan and start from scratch.

Gawd, I know. I'm so damned tired of that. And the anecdotes.

Hee, McCain angrily brought up a up point and Obama agreed with him and then McCain's sputters, clearly not expecting agreement. The room giggles. Oh Grnadpa, when will you retire and stop embarrassing yourself?

Maybe he'll be outed in the primary by the birther.

This really isn't going to bridge many gaps between the parties. The Republicans keep pushing bullshit, such as whether premiums will go up or not, even though the CBO says they won't.

But we can't trust the CBO! That man on tv said so!

McCain is talking about the terror of reconciliation, and if the Democrats use it, America would be harmed.

Ok, everyone agrees we have the best health care system in the world, that's progress I guess.

Yeah, I'm half listening at this point. It's repeat of the "You suck, no YOU suck dance" I'm mostly curious to see how Obama ends this, though I doubt it'll be anything definitive.

Yeah, it's time for the beer.

I CAN HAZ ABORTION NAO?

Mitch McConnell keeps citing a poll that says Americans don't want the current health care bill, 55% to 37%. Wonder where he's getting those numbers from.

Things are wrapping up and Obama is currently pointing out how manipulative polls can be presented.

I think he's getting it from the same poll that shows people are against the health plan until they find out what's in it.

Charlie Rangle (NY) is making excellent points about how the public really doesn't care what the debate is about or how many pages the bill is, they just want results.

Pelosi is speaking now and mentioning that the Public Option and praising it and it's potential for savings. She also calls out two Senators for lying, er, being mistaken about a few facts.

Obama's going doing a closing now, trying to sum up where the parties agree and disagree.

Missed the closing remarks, but did hear Obama say that another one of these summits probably won't happen as they're time consuming.

Obama's talking to everyone as they leave, touching on minor points. He's the last one in the room essentially, besides aids and the tv crew.

Thanks, brandonb. All I've been getting is the McCain soundbites, since I couldn't watch.