"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#

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