White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has responded to the letter from House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.), on the subject of President Obama’s invitation of Congressional Republicans to a “health-care summit”:

The President is adamant that we seize this historic moment to pass meaningful health insurance reform legislation. He began this process by inviting Republican and Democratic leaders to the White House on March 5 of last year, and he’s continued to work with both parties in crafting the best possible bill. He’s been very clear about his support for the House and Senate bills because of what they achieve for the American people: putting a stop to insurance company abuses, extending coverage to millions of hardworking Americans, getting control of rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and reducing the deficit.
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.

The Boehner/Cantor letter asks specific questions of the White House — ten to be exact — and Gibbs answers maybe one of them (Q: “will [the president] agree to start over so that we can develop a bill that is truly worthy of the support and confidence of the American people?” A: No).

Thus much remains to be addressed before we’ll know the precise admixture of pageantry to policy to be on display at this summit.