SUMMERVILLE, Ga. -- U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey said the president's recent health care summit was little more than a "photo op" and the massive overhaul of the industry has a 50-50 chance of passing in the House.
"I don't believe there was ever any intent to change anything," Rep. Gingrey, R-Ga., said of the summit while speaking Monday to members of the Chattooga County Chamber of Commerce.
Rep. Gingrey, an OB-GYN by trade, said he tried unsuccessfully to get an invitation to President Barrack Obama's meeting at the end of February as one of about 15 medical doctors in the House of Representatives. The president has said he wants a vote on the reform in the House by March 18.
Rep. Gingrey said he will vote against it, in part because of the so-called public option, which he said would have the federal government competing with insurance companies while also playing referee.
"That would work pretty good in a game of football, wouldn't it?" the congressman asked sarcastically.
He said the administration's first mistake was "trying to force-feed" health care reform on Americans instead of zeroing in on job creation.
"We should have been focused first and foremost on cutting corporate taxes and putting men and women back to work," Rep. Gingrey said.
He said he had proposed and would continue to suggest a Cabinet-level Department of Manufacturing to advise the president on industrial growth.
President Obama has called the rising cost of health care one of the greatest threats to the "very foundation of our economy." The president has said he wanted the public option because it would provide a nonprofit-driven competition for insurance industry. Recent reports suggest he may have softened his stance.
After Rep. Gingrey's speech, most of those in attendance, many of whom were small-business owners, focused on the congressman's pro-manufacturing remarks.
Don Henderson, plant manager of Mount Vernon Mills in Trion, Ga., said the economy needed to move back to manufacturing and bring such jobs back inside the country's borders.
"You have to make something," he said. "You can't just serve each other burgers."
Milford Morgan, who owns patterned carpet manufacturer Tri-Con, asked the congressman if there was anything the House could do about rising fees and deposits from utility companies, the Internal Revenue Service and other entities.
"You're penalized with these penalties and interest and then the government gives it away," he said. "It gets discouraging."
Rep. Gingrey pledged to continue "fighting for the little people" when he returned to Washington today.