C-Span’s Brian Lamb has written to Congressional leaders asking them to allow C-Span cameras in the room during the final negotiations on the health care reform bill. Lamb’s letter is here (PDF) He wrote in part (h/t RCP):
President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation’s editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation’s health care system. Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American.
Watch the campaign promises.
How will Congress and President Obama weasel out of this one? Post your educated guesses in the comments.
Filed under: General
The Hill
We don’t even have to guess. Seems they don’t like the idea
Lol Um, in what respect? Care to elaborate? An open door policy for Aetna and open government, not really the same thing.
All very good questions for which I am sure there are no answers forthcoming
No, no, no…it’s “open wallet” policy. Your wallet is wide open as far as they’re concerned.
Heh.
Oh no! ROFLOL! They really expect us to buy this. The Dems are going to lose Congress next year.
I swear they want to lose!
In criminal cases if your court appointed attorney isn’t defending you adequatelyyou can ask the judge to give you a new one. If you get convicted because your attorney is a dumptruck you can appeal and request a new tria.
Can we file a motion with SCOTUS to have the Democrats relieved as our representatives based in ineffective assistance of Congress?
Only in a just world… which is something nice to dream about.
Anything is worth a try at this point. We’d probably get Scalia and Thomas’s votes.
The system worked.
Ooooh. Touche!
I posted that in the morning links thread… completely predictable response from the D-for-disaster leadership.
Back Alley Nancy is correct: If you mean our hands are open for more campaign contributions from Big Pharma and the health insurance industry, the process has been OPEN! To the rest of us, we’re screwed!
Wow, go get ‘em Brian Lamb! My enduring love for you has not been misplaced!
He won’t have to weasel out of it, he’ll just ignore it. I doubt it will be widely reported.
TPMDC
Then there’s this one complete with video and an Obama diss from Madame Speaker.
Beat me to it.
You mean, he was for it before he was against it?
Yes, and she was for him before she was against him before she’s for him again.
She was never not for him. Even this snub is like, she’s like haha he was campaigning fools!
But–but–he was the One! Thank god he arose! If he’s just a typical lying panderer, how did he get to be the keeper of the magic unicorns?
It’s all very confusing.
Actually, I was waiting for her to finish the sentence with, “man, I really wasn’t paying attention, was I”
I see why you’re confused.
His being The One had nothing to do with who HE was. He got to be the keeper of the magic unicorns because YOU (general you) are raycist.
I’ll be damned. Too bad Carol Moseley Braun didn’t get to be the keeper of the magic unicorns in ’04 thanks to our racism.
she wasn’t a corporate tool, she didn’t have the big money to convince us that our national soul needed saving.
“Sorry, Carol, you don’t suck and you’re not a loser or shill or phony. This makes us very uncomfortable as a party which eats our own. If the American people like you and/or you like them and you might do a good job, you’re more of a Clinton than a Dem. Out!!!!”
Pelosi looks just like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard in that picture.
And Rangle looked like he had wax teeth in his mouth with that permanent big grin. They were all acting oddly exhuberant.
They’re all wildly happy thinking about the new campaign contributions they will receive for passing that POS bill.
“ahehe
ahe..”
just a riot, Nancy.
really funny.
it’s an episode of Everybody Loves Obama, ‘course it’s funny.
though if Harry the toad starts putting his arm around her again, Nancy won’t be laughing then.
Obama, you got some ‘spaining to do.
As predictable as night following day, the GOP says “Hell, yeah!”
Politico
By the power of kabuki, I foresee Obama throwing Congress under the bus, pretending he’s for it and making them the villians of the piece.
Call me silly, but C-Span might have a shot at this, if:
Typical C-Span single camera focused unrelentingly 24/7 on Obama and a written Favreau script consisting of the words, “I”, “me”, “my” and “best evah.”
You are leaving out “historical” and “unprecedented”.
Sent Brian Lamb an email of gratitude for standing up for democratic principles.
They just won’t hold final negotiations. A bill will magically appear, without a conference committee, without any formal process at all, for a straight up-or-down vote. All amendments will be ruled out of order. And I’m not the only one who thinks so:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/512067/dem_leaders_scheme_to_scrap_health_reform_conference_committee
From the article, John Nichols: “The pressure from progressives could be without consequence.”
At least The Nation has kept its sense of humor.
And this comment from that article is right on,
These guys couldn’t pass gas, much less healthcare reform.
I kind of wish Dorothy Thompson would return for a few hours to smack some sense into the staff or at least encourage them to blast off for Planet Kool-ade Oblivion once more, because it’s getting old. Oh, now you understand how the process works! Too bad you spent all of 2008 in dreamland where wishing made it so.
What will they do??
They’ll have Nancy Pelosi and Gibbs come out and say this is the most transparent process, evah!
Which is exactly what they did, today.
It’s the game strategy: counter the Big Lie with another big, fat lie. The theory is if you the lie enough, all lies become true. Or at least believable. It’s an off-shoot of magical thinking.
Not working anymore.
In fact, Pelosi and Gibbs looked and sounded like total fools. Earned and well deserved, too.
Byron Dorgan is retiring. One less Dem in the Senate. I doubt if North Dakota will elect another Dem to replace him.
He probably figured since Obama is worse than Bush–what’s the use of fighting anymore. He tried to get that amendment passed to allow drug reimportation, but noooooo.
Dorgan may have decided that it’s not worth it anymore and he may be right. When you can’t pass your legislation with the GOP in power or your own party in power, what’s the use?
Exactly.
Geez, it’s so freakin’ depressing.
Emptywheel has a post up about it. She thinks that’s why Dorgan is quitting.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/01/05/byron-dorgan-will-not-run-for-re-election/
Wexler started his new job today for that Middle East think tank….you suppose he left congress because he had been promised SOS, but after his embarrassing stint at the rules committee meeting it would have been too obvious? He’s not being replaced until April.
I’m so happy we don’t have to listen to him anymore.
Dorgan’s statement says he the obligatory lines about no dissatisfaction w/ the Senate and being behind Obama’s decisions, but there’s no mention of health reform–
But another lobbyist in DC, perhaps?
Dorgan is actually one of the good guys.
We have now one of the more interesting moments I’ve seen in US politics. Both sides, left and right, hate the Health Ins Deform bill and pretty much hate the same things about it. But the Right insists they hate those things because they are liberal while the Left insists they hate them because they’re conservative.
In fact, the things they hate are neither liberal nor conservative but some funky ass state corporatism which has traditionally been supported by neither party. In a sick way, it’s fascinating.
The same thing is true of the Wall St bailouts. Neither party would have considered that in the not too distant past.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the lawsuits start. I know a lot of people are already preparing to sue over the mandate to buy something from a private monopoly.
They each sold their souls just a little bit. To paraphrase Mary Daly, they own you just as much for being a little bit corrupt as going all the way.
I think the reason may be that the Obama administration has taken on the ‘blank screen’ quality of the hollowman candidate. When there are no stated principals, people are free to see what they want/expect/wish for. Repubs see a soclialist agenda they can attack, Obamacrats see a man on their side, the rest of us see an administration carefully trying to maintain the image of that blank screen.
Don’t worry about Dems reconciling the “Health Bull” mon C-Span”
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/politics/2010/Jan/04/dems_intend_to_bypass_gop_on_health_compromise.html
WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS
Let’s borrow this rallying cry from the British:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/6932576/David-Camerons-slogan-we-cant-go-on-like-this-was-used-by-Thatcher-on-immigration.html
This machine simulates the health reform effort.
Forgive me for this OT comment, but you MUST read this!!
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/05/before-his-inauguration-rumors-of-a-terrorist-plot-weighed-on-o/?icid=main|main|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F01%2F05%2Fbefore-his-inauguration-rumors-of-a-terrorist-plot-weighed-on-o%2F
Scroll down and see who they put in safe keeping to be next in line should anything have happened at the inauguration!!!!!
Okay – trying that link tiny:
http://tinyurl.com/ycb4clt
Robert Gates!!!!!
ThinkProgress:
How will Congress and President Obama weasel out of this one?
Nancy: “We are already so transparent that any more transparency would be dangerous.”
Reid: “I think having cameras would actually make us less transparent.”
Obama: “C-SPAN is nice enough.”
gov. of Colorado also not running again. Just saw it on TL
Remember when the Democrats used to be a real party? Read some stuff where the Repubs are being gracious and the Dems are speculating about scandal. Lol Way to go, guys!
Caught a few mins of Larry King and had to turn it off… Bob Woodward the stenographer, still enchanted with O.. guess until Obama is on his way out and then Woodward can write a book trashing him.
and Chris Dodd—per WaPo–stampede for the door!!