Pass. The. Bill.

See, I can do this without profanity. Anyway, Surowiecki:

The problem—which Obama essentially acknowledged in his closing remarks today—is that it’s hard to see how the gap between these visions of health-insurance reform can really be bridged. As I pointed out a few months ago, many Republicans have in the past actually argued that we should have community rating and guaranteed issue. But in practice, they’re unwilling to accept what writing those principles into law would entail: namely, some form of individual mandate and/or substantial subsidies. And at today’s summit, they didn’t even seem all that supportive of bans on preexisting conditions—when the subject they came up, they demurred on the question of regulation. Similarly, while Republicans obviously aren’t opposed to having more Americans buying health insurance, they don’t want the government playing a significant role (via subsidies or setting up insurance exchanges) in making that happen. Obama was right, at the end of the day, to point to what common ground did exist, and to reject the notion that one side was interested in having government take over the system while the other was opposed to all regulation—as he said, even the Republicans agree, at least in theory, that the insurance market needs to be regulated. But ultimately, and unsurprisingly, the differences between the two sides far outweigh the similarities, so much so that compromise isn’t going to solve the problem. If Democrats want what they say they want, they’re going to have to pass a bill on their own. Which is, at this point, precisely what they should do.

Now, I haven't seen all that much from yesterday's summit, but I feel relatively safe in saying that not a single Republican expressed any concern for the uninsured. Nor the slightest concern for the millions who've lost their jobs in this recession and are relying on temporary -- and expensive -- COBRA*.

Of course, why should they?

* You ever wonder what the "R" stands for? Reconciliation.