Gibbs tosses cold water on shutting out the Republicans:
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration remains committed to drawing Republican support for the bill, particularly in the Senate.
“I don't know why we would short-circuit that now,” Gibbs told reporters.
He said the White House believes some Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee “are still working in a constructive way to get reform through the Senate and ultimately to the president's desk.”
Aggravating, I know. But I can't help but to go back to the number 60. There are only 58 healthy Democrats right now. 58. Not enough to break the filibuster, unless Kennedy and Byrd are well enough to vote several months from now. And by all accounts, a reconciliation vote will do much more harm than good.
So the White House needs two Republicans to vote against the filibuster. What would you do if you were the White House? Speaking for myself, I wouldn't want to be the White House right now.