Posted by Tina
UPDATE: “Reid’s office welcomes but won’t back C-SPAN request,” by Michael O’Brien – The Hill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office said he welcomed C-SPAN’s calls for televised healthcare negotiations, but wouldn’t assent to the network’s request. A spokesman for Reid seemed to reject calls from the nonpartisan network that closed-door negotiations to hammer out health reform legislation should be televised, a call first made by President Barack Obama on the campaign trail, and echoed in a letter to House and Senate leaders from C-SPAN on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL: “Hiding health bills behind closed doors”
It may be a new year, but congressional Democrats are planning the same old sorts of sleazy tactics in their bid to take over America’s health care system. Congressional Republicans, especially in the Senate, should not let them get away with it. Transparency and ethics should be Republican rallying cries, and obstruction on those grounds should be a point of pride. *** By now it’s almost trite to complain that President Obama repeatedly has broken his campaign pledge to “broadcast [health care] negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are.” That doesn’t make the complaint invalid. For legislation that could so profoundly and personally affect the daily lives of every American, Congress and the White House should be more transparent and more accessible than ever before. Instead, the process has been secretive and sordid throughout.
Just heard on the radio that C-SPAN has suggested the same. Dare I say, “DITTO”?