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Here's Ruth Marcus in the WashPost on the health-care summit:

But the president's proposal was not really meant to be taken at face value. In case the president's ducking of Couric's question about his willingness to "start at square one" wasn't clear enough, the White House came out to emphasize that, no, the president wasn't backing away from the measures that have already passed both houses of Congress. He plans to come to the table with a merged Democratic blueprint as his starting point. Republicans should feel free to chime in, though.

To call this Kabuki is to insult the Japanese art form. I am no fan of the House Republican leadership, but under these circumstances it's hard to fault Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia for suggesting that they might have better things to do than serve as Democratic stage props.

Americans hate the current health care legislation and the GOP leaders can make the argument that trying to fix the 2000+ page bill would be like getting a car wash for a wrecked clunker. But the White House won't do that, and it won't entertain other ideas (e.g. tort reform) so there's only the vaudeville show.

Extra – CBS News: "Obama says bipartisanship but what he wants is GOP surrender."

More - Gateway Pundit urges the GOP to speak plainly.