Whew! Finally, I can wake up this morning knowing I can again afford healthcare.

The greatest brains of our time are gathering in the country's heralded Eastern seaboard tidal swamp to make this possible.

At long last, my fellow Americans and I should be able to survive health problems in the future (unless it is something serious like acid reflux or a hangnail).

It is comforting to know that our elected, annointed leaders, our brain trust gathering in Washington are fully protected by guaranteed pensions, paid health care for life and access to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Surely Social Security and Medicare are safe. After all, we paid into those "trust funds" with our hard-earned American greenbacks. Whew!

But, Democratic leaders Wednesday voiced they might not be able to pass a "comprehensive health care overhaul" sought by President "Summit" Obama, Fox News reported.

Republican leaders stood ready to resist Obama's courtship overtures - including chocolates and flowers.

Some in Washington have coined this the "ShamWow Summit."

After all, Obama is so good at "summits." After 13 months in office, he has organized the Summit of the Americas, G-8 Summit, G-20 Summit, Jobs Summit, Economic Summit, Health Summit ... and don't forget ... the Beer Summit.

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., declared in a memo that if the Senate goes ahead with plans to use a controversial legislative tactic known as reconciliation to pass a healthcare bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., "will not be able to muster the votes" to pass it in the House, Fox News reported.

Speaking ahead of Obama's 10 a.m. televised (C-Span) health "summit," House Minority Leader John Boehner told fellow Republicans in a closed-door event Tuesday: "We need to show up and crash the party," an aide told Reuters.

"We shouldn't let the White House have a six-hour taxpayer-funded infomercial on ObamaCare," Boehner said, suggesting today's meeting was no more than a White House publicity stunt.

Both parties saw the president's revised, far-reaching proposal, released Monday, as a chance for Democrats to try to pass the legislation on their own under Senate rules that would bar Republican delays.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Obama administration appears determined "to try to jam it through" under the seldom-used "budget reconciliation" process.

"It would allow Democrats in the Senate to pass part of the bill with a simple, 51-vote majority, McConnell said.

But Cantor, in his memo, ran through the numbers in the House and estimated that Pelosi would only be able to hold together 203 votes at best -- far fewer than she needs. The bill originally passed the House last year by a narrow 220-215 vote.

Cantor argued that while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could afford to lose several Democratic senators over objections to the reconciliation process, Pelosi might not enjoy the same luxury.

Reid, though, tried to ease concerns about the tactic. He said reconciliation rules have been used 21 times since 1981, usually by Republicans.

"They should stop crying about reconciliation," Reid told reporters at the Capitol. "It's done almost every Congress, and they're the ones that used it more than anyone else."

(Republicans occupied the White House for 20 of those years.)

McConnell invited some of Obama's sharpest critics, including the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to join him. None of the GOP moderates who have raised the prospect of bipartisanship on health care, such as New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg or Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, were included.

"We're happy to be there, but I'm not quite sure what the purpose is," McConnell said of the daylong summit. "It seems to me the president's already made up his mind."

Democrats were dismissive of GOP "We the People" demands that they start from scratch.

"This idea that we have to start with a blank sheet of paper is ridiculous," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

Members of Congress who face re-election this fall are worried that public opposition to a full-scale overhaul of healthcare could doom them, according to Politico.com.

Failing to pass a bill would be even worse, party leaders say.

Many House Democrats attended a closed meeting Tuesday at which pollster Celinda Lake said many elderly Americans fear the Obama plans could harm Medicare, Politico.com reported.

Vice President Joe Biden will head a discussion on deficit reduction. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will lead talks on insurance reform.

Speaker Pelosi invited four colleagues Tuesday to attend in addition to previously announced committee chairmen: Reps. Rob Andrews of New Jersey, Xavier Becerra of California, Jim Cooper of Tennessee and Louise Slaughter of New York.

McConnell tapped GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, John Barrasso of Wyoming and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, in addition to key committee leaders.

What will they have for lunch? Probably what many Americans are being fed - more baloney.