C-Span has sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell requesting permission to cover the upcoming closed door negotiations for the health care legislation. It's too bad they didn't make this request when Harry Reid was putting together the recently passed Manager's Amendment, but, well, better late than never, right?
It will be interesting to see the response.
One would imagine it would be hard for them to refuse because, after all, President Obama himself said (on video, of course) that health care negotiations would be completely transparent and viewable on C-Span. Shame is a powerful motivator, according to Dear Leader. Too bad he, Pelosi and Reid don't have any.
However, this administration has been notorious about breaking campaign promises, so expect a refusal - if they deign to address the letter at all. I'm sure there will be some snide, snarky response. What do you think the odds are that C-Span will be accused of being a right-wing propaganda organization, embarking on a vicious smear campaign? That seems to be the go-to attack these days.
The Neo-Pravda media bear watching on this one, too. They stepped up when Fox News was black-balled by the administration, but the jury's still out on whether they will have C-Span's back. Hopefully Obama's repeated vows of transparency will shame them into demanding he keep his promise.
I'm not holding my breath, though.
UPDATE: Well, Pelosi's response is...interesting. When reminded of Obama's campaign promise to have C-Span cover the health care debate, her response was to laugh and say "There were a number of things he swore on the campaign trail". Isn't it refreshing for our elected officials to come right out and admit they will say anything it takes to be elected without ever taking it seriously or planning on following through? After that it is more of a dance around the subject than a direct answer. As usual.
UPDATE II: Sign the petition! The site will be up and running Wednesday morning. Make sure you check it out. Time to put on some pressure. Apparently it's the only thing Congress responds to anymore.
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