“That’s what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are, because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process”
This Obama campaign promise is almost humorous now. It was one of at least 8 times that he gave it. Even after a very public request by C-SPAN, the Obama administration is refusing to air the final closed door negotiations to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bill. The only information we get is from leaks on the outcomes of these ‘meetings’. The outcomes are scary enough, but what is not leaked probably is much scarier.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs laughed off questions from reporters on this broken promise of transparency saying that there has been a thorough two year debate on healthcare so televising these last little negotiations is not very important. (You don’t need to know about the backdoor deals in these private meetings…just details really). Then we have Nancy Pelosi who said there has never been such an open process on a piece of legislation. Never mind that the legislation was written behind closed doors with only Congressional Democrats and a White House team led by Rahm Emanuel. And let’s count the backdoor deals. $100 million to Dodd for a hospital. $300 million to Landrieu for an earmark. For the infamous Nelson there was $100 million in Medicaid along with exemptions to the new taxes in the bill for its large insurers. Merkley got special treatment for unions. And Sanders got $10 billion for community health centers. Do I need to continue? It’s only transparent because this information is leaking out from under the closed doors…or surprisingly enough being bragged about as accomplishments by these representatives.
Other deals being reported on around the country include support for the bill in return for the promise that amnesty legislation for illegal aliens will be pushed by the administration next year. (these particular representatives are upset that illegal aliens are not specifically covered in the bill). There are also the deals with AARP to ensure protection for their hundreds of millions in insurance premiums. Then there is Pharma and the American Medical Association. Both these organizations’ support was bought with your tax dollars.
These deals are inevitable when the federal government decides they are the only ones that can help. And the taxpayer is the one who pays for it. That is why there is no transparency as promised. I doubt Obama or the other Democrats brokering these deals really want people to know exactly what is going on. And the reason they do not seem to care at all about this blatant slap in the face of the American public. They are just counting on the usual. The usual apathetic public, the usual uneducated voter, and a usual population with the attention span of a 5 year old. The question is can we prove them wrong this time because the transparency issues go further than just this single high profile situation.
There was the dismissal of the voter intimidation case by the Black Panther party (after it was determined they were guilty I might add). Requests for information are still being denied to both newspapers and congressmen in this case. The administration has actually received sanctions (fines) from a Kansas federal court for once again refusing to provide information in another case. And lets not forget that efforts to get information on Rahm Emanuel’s role with the book cooking incident at the Fannie Mae are being blocked by the administration. I think I better stop now…I am getting a little sick to my stomach…hopefully you are as well.
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