Go for it Mr. President; throw GOP off stride & mean it: Congressional Democrats warned White House officials 'not to go too far' on tort reform.

From The New York Times:

One way Mr. Obama could throw Republicans off stride would be to make a bold opening offer to embrace one of their health care priorities, like limiting medical malpractice lawsuits — an idea one Democrat close to the White House said had been under consideration.

But, this Democrat said, such an offer appeared unlikely, in part because Republicans seem dug in against the president’s plan and in part because it would arouse the ire of Mr. Obama’s Democratic base. In a conference call Wednesday, Congressional Democrats warned White House officials “not to go too far” on tort reform, one person familiar with the call said.

White House officials said Mr. Obama would use his opening remarks to make the case that Democrats and Republicans are not as far apart as they think on health care, because both parties are concerned about the deficit and rising health premiums — issues, the president will argue, that can be addressed only by controlling health care costs.

Republicans said they would frame their arguments in opposition to the Democrats’ expansive plan, and would emphasize a handful of ideas that were part of a House Republican alternative to the Democrats’ legislation in November, including allowing small businesses to band together to buy health insurance at lower prices, permitting the sale of insurance policies across state lines, expanding state high-risk pools to offer coverage to people who otherwise could not obtain it, and limiting damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.