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On Health Care, Transparency Is As Clear As Mud |
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At Least Kiss Me First
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Written by Bob Sordahl
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Wednesday, 06 January 2010 |
 Another promise falls by the wayside. President Obama, has insisted on as many as eight occasions, that the final negotiations of his proposed health care reform would be carried out with complete transparency. He went to great lengths to outline how it "all would be carried on C-Span for everyone to see". He said he "wanted all Americans to see who was for it and who was against it". He said he wanted everyone to see the shady tactics, backdoor deals and pork attached to the bill. OK, the last one is an exaggeration, but you get my point.
Today we see that the President and Democrat leaders are hammering out the details of the House-Senate compromise in secret, behind closed doors. An article in the Washington Post describes how the whole thing is coming down: In a White House meeting Tuesday evening, Obama and Democratic leaders agreed on a fast-track alternative to the traditional House-Senate conference committee. The informal approach would still require the House and Senate to pass identical bills but would minimize the opportunity for Senate Republicans -- who united in opposition to the legislation -- to slow the process. Under the plan, the House would pass the Senate bill amended with new compromise provisions, then send the package back to the Senate for one final vote.
Notice that they are running an end around to avoid any possibility of delay or intervention. The normal procedure of a House-Senate conference to iron out differences is being eliminated to hide all the baloney from the American people. They are still trying to get this done fast (even though the supposed benefits won't appear until 2014), and we all need to be asking "why the rush?" We also need to ask why the majority party of both houses need to seal this deal without allowing a single Republican in the room? That's certainly not a representative democracy.
I've been saying all along that this thing can't stand the light of day and the behavior of our lawmakers proves my assertion. On December 30, in a letter to House and Senate leadership, the Network Chairman of C-Span himself implored them to make good on Obama's promise and allow broadcast of the proceedings. So far, at least, the request has fallen on deaf ears. In fact today when questioned about the letter, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi snidely remarked: "A lot of promises are made during campaigns". Yeah, like that one to serve the people.
This almost opaque administration that promised so much openness and transparency, constantly amazes with policies and political moves that are murky at best. The most stunningly expensive and life changing legislation ever proposed is moving toward law behind a wall meant to shut out Americans and eliminate any dissent. This is the same kind of transparency that was perfected by the Soviet Union and 20 years later, we all see how well that worked.
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