Legislative leaders from both parties are meeting with President Obama now to discuss the economy, the first of the monthly bicameral, bipartisan meetings promised in the State of the Union address. Meanwhile, the back and forth between Congressional Republicans and the White House over the proposed health care summit continues.

Yesterday, Minority Leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell said they would attend the summit, but only if the White House agreed to certain ground rules, making it clear they think the entire legislative effort should start over. Robert Gibbs responded that the president would not "walk away from reform and the millions of American families and small business counting on it." He also reminded the leaders of a meeting the president held with GOP leadership last March seeking their input.

Now, a GOP leadership aide e-mails a copy of a letter Republicans sent the administration as the process moved forward last spring, asking for another White House meeting. The aide also provided the president's reply, which, in the words of the aide, amounted to saying: "thanks, but no thanks." Included in that letter was this statement from the president: "I believe legislation that addresses issues of cost, coverage, and quality of care will pass the House of Representatives by August 1."

In fact, that bill only passed the House on November 7. The Senate passed its own version just before Christmas. And then, of course, Scott Brown was elected to the Senate, effectively shelving the bill for the foreseeable future.

For more, read Kyle's take on the health care summit here.

UPDATE: Speaking with reporters at the White House after today's meeting, both McConnell and Boehner did not rule out skipping the proposed February 25 summit. Both stressed the need to start over on legislation, with Boehner arguing it was futile to continue discussion on the current bill.

"It's going to be very difficult to have a bipartisan conversation with regard to a 2,700-page health care bill that the Democrat majority in the House and the Democratic majority in the Senate can't pass," the House minority leader said. "Why are we going to talk about a bill that can't pass? It's time to scrap the bill and start over."

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