Had Rep. Joe Wilson been at Nancy Pelosi's press conference, yesterday, he might have been tempted to again yell, “You LIE!” Pelosi first joyfully proclaims that the health care bill will crush the [evil] insurance companies. “We will have what we need to hold the insurance companies accountable. I contend that whatever we have coming out of this bill will hold them accountable and they’ll be crying out for a public option one of these days!” Laughs,
Then a reporter asks her about the letter from C-Span's CEO, requesting to film the remainder of the health care hearings, which are being withheld from the public behind closed doors. The he mentions Obama’s (repeated) promise to hold health care negotiations in the open on C-Span. Watch Pelosi’s reaction to that, as well as the reaction of her fellow democrats in back:
The audacity Pelosi displays is staggering even to those of us jaded to political babble. She looks around almost as if she expected to find Candid Camera playing a prank. “Well, (laughs) there were a NUMBER of things he (Obama) was for on the campaign trail.” And everyone laughs. Silly reporter, that was during the CAMPAIGN—surely you didn’t expect him to keep a campaign promise! Then she has the gall to claim they have been the MOST transparent congress there has ever been. The only thing the democrats have been transparent about is their contempt for the American people.
Watching the health care debate at this point is a bit too little, too late—the deal is all but done. But kudos to the C-Span marketing department for getting some beneficial press. It
is something that the politically active members of the public would watch. Unlike the congress, the US public has been reading the bill—so the senate made sure to lock their version up until after their vote.
Pelosi’s contempt is a shot across the bow of the White House and a sign of a rift in the democratic party. She seems to be saying, ‘Yeah he said a number of things to
us during the campaign, too!’ It’s hard to believe, but there are several in Congress who think Obama isn’t liberal enough! A number are ANGRY with Obama because he can’t socialize the U.S. fast enough! There were compromises made to the health care plan, Gitmo hasn’t been closed yet, more soldiers are being sent to fight in Afghanistan instead of withdrawn. And now, darn it, another terrorist has popped up, which puts a crimp in the plan to send Yemen’s Gitmo detainees home to fight another day while trying 911 criminals in US domestic courts.
The idea that politicians of either party are going to hold open hearings on anything seems a distant pipe dream. It’s as big a dream as democrats in Congress are going to sock it to health insurance companies by...forcing everyone to buy health insurance!
