By Amanda J. Reinecker

President Obama's seven-hour health care summit last Thursday was supposed to be a game-changer for the reform debates. It was not.

» Read Heritage Foundation experts' take on the summit in their Reaction Roundup.

Though liberals and conservatives agree that the nation's health care system is in desperate need of reform, consensus on ways to achieve these reforms remains virtually nonexistent. As Time magazine reports, all the health care summit did was emphasize the sides' "fundamentally — and irreconcilably — different views of how to go about fixing the nation's health care system." The stalemate continues.

Concerns about the high costs, unprecedented federal expansion and oversight and unconstitutional mandates were left unresolved. "Nothing fundamental changed," writes Heritage expert James Capretta. But if Obamacare is to gain any support, fundamental change -- namely starting over -- is necessary.

There was one significant change that sprung from the summit: The President's admission that his plan would not reduce the cost of private health insurance. "Obama's most important health reform promise was his oft-repeated pledge to lower health insurance costs by $2,500 per year," writes Heritage distinguished fellow Ernest Istook. "Being forced to admit on live television that his plan fails to do that — and instead increases premiums — was the low point of the summit for the president."

In an uneven back-and-forth moderated by the President, conservatives held their own and urged their more liberal colleagues to scrap their bloated proposal and, instead, work alongside them in drafting a truly bipartisan bill. But the Democrats insisted that enough time had been spent debating and drafting the proposal and that the necessary next step is passage -- despite its flaws and collapsing public support.  

Right now, the left doesn't even have enough votes within their own ranks to pass the bill. They confidently insist that they can conjure them up, but "if you were watching television [Sunday]," writes Heritage's Conn Carroll, "it quickly became apparent that the leadership in the House has no idea how they are going to get them." Over the weekend, in two separate interviews, top House leaders including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sang from different song sheets on how they plan to pass the bill. Heritage Vice President Mike Franc argues in National Review Online, meanwhile, that using the reconciliation procedure suggested to ensure Senate passage is unprecedented.

The Hill reports, "Centrist and anti-abortion lawmakers who have doubts about the cost of the president's proposal and its support for the Senate's abortion provisions have indicated that they are still not on board with the plan." Perhaps the left should take a hint: if members of the Democratic Party disagree; if the entire Republican Party disagrees; and if the majority of the American people disagree, then maybe it's not a communication issue, as they insist it is. Maybe it's just bad policy.

> Other Heritage Work of Note

• Liberals in both chambers of Congress have introduced new, unconstitutional legislation that would repeal many of the First Amendment rights that were recently restored by the Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case. The legislation proposes complex and intrusive disclosure requirements, which Heritage legal expert Hans von Spakovsky says are designed to intimidate and deter people from supporting organizations like the NRA. "This is obviously unfair and intended to marginalize the speech of those who might disagree with members of Congress."

• With many American athletes returning victorious from this year's Winter Olympics, it is tempting to let our pride in our homegrown talent mask the bigger issues our nation is facing: lack of activity in the arenas of trade policy and national defense. The U.S. has yet to close a defense trade cooperation deal with our two strongest allies, Australia and Britain. "The president has talked a lot about improving 'trade' of late, but it hasn't translated into positive action," writes Heritage national security expert James Carafano.
  
  » Let us know what you think by posting your comments on The Washington Examiner's website.

• The Heritage Foundation continues to expand our presence outside the Beltway. We are proud to announce the launch of our 13th Community Committee, the North Carolina Committee for Heritage. The inaugural luncheon will take place tomorrow in Chapel Hill and will feature Ed Feulner and Heritage scholar Matthew Spalding, author of We Still Hold These Truths and director of Heritage's B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies. For an itinerary of the event and further details, please visit the Community Committee event page.

> In Other News 

• Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney just released a new book, in which he outlines his proposals on everything from national security to the economy, from health care to energy and from entitlements to education. Pundits suggest this book may be for a prelude to a 2012 presidential bid.

• This time of year is peak flu season, but reports of the highly contagious, seasonal virus have been uncharacteristically low. The percentage of all doctors' visits by patients with influenza-like symptoms dropped to 1.8 percent in late February, well below the norm for flu season.

• Looters and violent mobs have taken to the streets in Chile, where a devastating 8.8 earthquake struck over the weekend. The government has ordered thousands of troops to restore order.

• Five European states have announced their support of a ban on burkas, religious headdresses for orthodox Muslim women. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading the efforts, and has received backing from the UK, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other events at Heritage please RSVP at Heritage's website. Or you can view these events live online. All times are Eastern.

• On Wednesday, March 3 at 12 pm, Professor Bruce Caldwell of Duke University will explain the continued relevance of Austrian economic theories and their most famous advocate, Friedrich Hayek.

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 Foundation intern, contributed to this report.