Yesterday, after a temporary lull in the health care debates, President Obama released a "fresh attempt" to salvage his health care overhaul agenda. Though the details will not be released for some time, the ideas at the core of this 11-page outline (link in PDF) aren't really so "fresh." Based largely on the Senate's flawed plan, the "new" proposal is riddled with many of the same harmful taxes, dubious mandates, and unprecedented federal regulatory powers.

But even though the Senate bill serves as its template, the president's proposal does have some new initiatives -- and they add up to $80 billion. This would increase the overall cost of health care "reform" to a staggering $950 billion over ten years, a cost likely to rise as the legislative text is finalized.

Perhaps the most alarming difference is the prospect of a Federal Health Insurance Rate Authority, which would grant federal bureaucrats the power to set and control insurance prices and thus effectively create a government-run health plan. "If government can control both health benefits and health care pricing, that's the proverbial ball game," writes Heritage health policy expert Bob Moffit. "Private health care is private in name only."

Is the left ignoring the American people?

Over the past year, public support for Obamacare has petered out. Last August, lawmakers heard the angry cries of the town hall attendees. In November, they saw liberal gubernatorial candidates defeated in New Jersey and Virginia. And in January, victory came out of the blue (literally) with Republican Scott Brown's Senate victory in the reliably liberal state of Massachusetts.

Each of these events was fueled in part by growing opposition to the President's health care agenda. Yet, as Heritage's Conn Carroll explains in the Morning Bell, the left insists these upsets are a result not of bad policy, but of poor communication. So they've scheduled a six-hour health care summit this Thursday to try once again to convince America that their big-government policies are the way to go.

Conservatives in Congress recognize the President's health care proposal for what it is: just the latest liberal attempt to nationalize health care. As House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) states, "The President has crippled the credibility of this week's summit by proposing the same massive government takeover of health care based on a partisan bill the American people have already rejected."

Despite firm resistance, however, the left's leadership has made it abundantly clear that, should conservatives try to stymie the bill procedurally, they will pass Obamacare via reconciliation, which requires just a bare majority instead of the usual 60 percent. According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), "Using reconciliation would be an acknowledgment that there is bipartisan opposition to their bill, another in a series of backroom deals, and the clearest signal yet that they've decided to completely ignore the American people."

Advice for lawmakers: Start over

Increasing the quality of care while decreasing costs should be the underlying objective of any health care reform proposal. But the left's current proposals achieve neither objective, argue Heritage experts Jason Fodeman and Robert Book. In fact, the left's plans dramatically bend the cost curve up and drive the quality of care down.

Reforming Medicare, Medicaid, and tax laws affecting health insurance would all help to reduce spending without compromising the quality of care. These reforms would also help pave the way for an insurance market that promotes choice and rewards cost-efficient care.

As lawmakers prepare for Thursday's summit, Heritage's Bob Moffit suggests in the Providence Journal that they "start the conversation on true bipartisan health measures -- where taxpayers have a voice." And why shouldn't taxpayers have a voice? After all, they're the ones paying for it.

> Other Heritage work of note

• The House of Representatives is revisiting an insidious proposal to create a separate race-based government for native Hawaiians. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights sent a letter yesterday to the House leadership urging them to reconsider the content of the bill and the secretive manner in which it is being discussed. In the letter, Commissioner and Heritage legal expert Todd Gaziano writes, "We wish to register our profound disappointment that a bill of this great importance would be dealt with in this manner. The creation of the largest tribal entity in the history of the nation – potentially 400,000 strong – is too important a step to take this lightly."
  
  »Read a roundup of Heritage research about the constitutionality and merits of the proposal from the last time it came up.

• Recent advancements in airborne laser technology mean this futuristic-sounding technology is actually a promising way to protect our home front against missile attacks. We actually have the capability to bring down a missile with a laser, writes Heritage national security expert James Carafano, which is "not bad for a defensive weapon once ridiculed as science fiction." Despite their promise -- these lasers can help neutralize sea-borne missiles and other efforts to bypass our existing defenses -- the Obama administration has scrapped further testing of these lasers. So why, Carafano asks, is the Obama administration turning a blind eye to the evidence?
  
  » Post your thoughts online at WashingtonExaminer.com.
• Though the capture of Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar is without question a success, Heritage legal expert Charles Stimson argues in Human Events, new details expose the Obama administration's lack of resolve to courageously stand up to terrorists. President Obama elected for U.S. forces to jointly capture Baradar with Pakistan, but he left interrogation up to the Pakistanis. The administration has further failed to devise a comprehensive legal strategy for the detention and interrogation of detainees. "The Administration seems to have no policy or plan in place to deal with the very real possibility that the U.S. will capture high-value terrorists outside of Afghanistan and that these terrorists will need to be interrogated for intelligence purposes."   

> In other news

• Toyota executives are pointing fingers at Democratic lawmakers for not being "industry friendly." The company has come under regulatory scrutiny lately for a series of safety lapses. The federal government owns large stakes in two of Toyota's main competitors.

• Five Republican senators, including newly-elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, voted Monday to advance the $15 billion "jobs" bill. This latest "stimulus" bill includes several new measures, including one that would exempt employers from Social Security payroll taxes on new hires who were unemployed.

• With mid-term elections approaching fast, many congressmen are announcing that they will not seek re-election. So far, eight House Democrats have announced their retirements, and five others are making bids for state-wide office. In all, Democrats will be defending 13 open seats.

• U.S. consumer confidence has dropped to an all-time low since April of 2009, signaling the direct correlation between unemployment and individual spending practices.

• Former Vice President Dick Cheney has been hospitalized after a mild heart attack. He is expected to leave the hospital this week.

Amanda Reinecker is a writer for MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Nathaniel Ward, the Editor of MyHeritage.org, and Eva Brates, a Heritage intern, contributed to this report.