C-SPAN chief: We’ve been allowed to cover exactly one hour of ObamaCare negotiations
posted at 6:25 pm on January 7, 2010 by Allahpundit
And of course that hour was nothing but a puppet show for the cameras. I wonder, given the fact that Obama’s now one for 14 on keeping his health-care promises, why this particular lie has caught fire in the media. Is it because it’s so easy to grasp, unlike the fiscal sleight of hand that’s been used to manipulate ObamaCare’s cost projections? Is it because Brian Lamb and C-SPAN are highly regarded by both sides of the aisle, leaving no one to ride to the White House’s defense here? Or could it possibly be that using transparency to drive special-interest moneychangers from the governmental temple was the very core of Lincoln-Jesus’s Change schtick during the campaign? So total is this betrayal, and so complicit in it are the 60 Democrats voting “yes” on the bill, that Specter’s Democratic primary opponent is now campaigning against it. What a difference a year makes.
Blowback
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Gee. Really, who is shocked by this. C’mon!!!
Gob on January 7, 2010 at 6:28 PM
The Buck stops with him.
tomas on January 7, 2010 at 6:30 PM
More nails in the demonRats collective coffin.
OmahaConservative on January 7, 2010 at 6:30 PM
It’s one hour more than Obama wanted to give and one hour more where the roaches in Congress have to squirm in public. One more hour where the Dems get shamed and insulted. One more hour when Obama can say something stupid. One more hour for Harry and Nancy to further antagonize the electorate.
Do not underestimate the potential damage that will come from this hour. This is not a win for the White House.
EMD on January 7, 2010 at 6:32 PM
Because it’s a wake up call that all elitists eventually get when they figure out that they’re NOT invited into the ivory towers anymore.
Imagine how annoyed they all were when they realized that all the rules for “the commoners” will actually apply to them?
DrAllecon on January 7, 2010 at 6:32 PM
Perhaps transparency does not mean what Obama thinks it means?
coldwarrior on January 7, 2010 at 6:33 PM
But he just read a speech from a teleprompter, moving his head side to side, and trying to look tuff…
Why won’t this story just go away!
Seven Percent Solution on January 7, 2010 at 6:34 PM
Obama is pretty much ensuring the GOP gets another chance at controlling congress at the end of this year. And if Republicans can get our act together, and make campaign promises a number one priority to keep, we can get this country back on the right track.
JetBoy on January 7, 2010 at 6:35 PM
Fairly certain this will be the most procedure-filled hour on television evah. No chance this hour shows any substantial debate.
LastRick on January 7, 2010 at 6:37 PM
I’m shocked! Shocked to see the MSM questioning democrats!
perroviejo on January 7, 2010 at 6:37 PM
Contempt, thy name is Obama.
Funny how he can take something that would be of benefit to his presidency, cast it aside, spit upon it and expect that we will love him all the more for it.
Be it C-SPAN, Christmas Ball Bomber, what have you.
BTW, the lie of the year was “Death Panels”. Don’t forget it.
turfmann on January 7, 2010 at 6:37 PM
I think when they see CSPAN getting “Foxed”, they know they’re next.
TXUS on January 7, 2010 at 6:38 PM
Lunch hour?
yoda on January 7, 2010 at 6:38 PM
Imagine if this had been Bush or the Republican-controlled Congress doing something like this.
About this point in time, the widespread outrage from the media would have been at the decibel level that is known to cause physical pain.
So where is the widespread outrage in this case, other than the outrage coming from C-Span and Jack Cafferty?
pilamaye on January 7, 2010 at 6:38 PM
There’s no way for them to spin this one; that’s why it’s taken hold the way it has. Obama is on record – many, many times – assuring us that there would be public debate. He can’t claim that his words were taken “out of context”. His staff isn’t smart enough to b.s. their way around the fact that Obama lied about this, and what’s worse, doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about it.
Character. He doesn’t have it.
uncivilized on January 7, 2010 at 6:39 PM
I think this has caught on because of the video that went virual yesterday. There is no way to defend Zero on this. Not when you have him saying this at least 8 times and with more than half the people against this bill, I think the video is just fueling the fire and the ire of the American People.
Brat4life on January 7, 2010 at 6:40 PM
Hey, he didn’t say how long it’d be televised on C-SPAN, so he’s kept his campaign promise after all!
ncborn on January 7, 2010 at 6:40 PM
CSPAN should be Honored & Humbled to have that one hour of airtime. /s
portlandon on January 7, 2010 at 6:41 PM
Sound familiar?
tru2tx on January 7, 2010 at 6:42 PM
I’ve know to many Spaniards ! ! ! ! !
oldfiveanddimer on January 7, 2010 at 6:42 PM
CSPAN should tell Obama to shove it, rather than participate in a stage-managed farce that will allow these rats to claim they did something meaningful.
drunyan8315 on January 7, 2010 at 6:45 PM
Who knows? It’s one of those mysteries of politics. You never know which issue is going to catch fire with the media and the public. Who would have thought a few suggestive emails by an obscure Florida congressman would have dominated the news for three weeks before an election and cost Republicans a dozen House seats?
I think in this case it is that there is no weaseling out of this promise Obama made during the campaign, and it was a staple of his stump speech. The media have given Obama Get Out of Jail Free cards on almost everything else he has reneged on from the campaign, but this one was considered a real feature of what made him the Great Agent of Change In Washington.
It has clearly caught the White House by surprise, and it is screwed as a result. There is no amount of spin they can put on this that anyone will believe. They decided to contract Obama’s signature issue out to Nancy Pelosi and Harry reid, and now he is at the mercy of whatever seamy and secret process they want to use to get it done.
rockmom on January 7, 2010 at 6:45 PM
This is it.
Schadenfreude on January 7, 2010 at 6:47 PM
Slightly OT, but can definitely be put in the lies column. I received my first paycheck of 2010. I do not make $250K, nor do I make $150K, or even $100K. But guess what? My federal taxes increased!
Sharing the wealth I tell ya, even of those who are not wealthy. I guess ole Joe Wilson was right after all!
lsutiger on January 7, 2010 at 6:47 PM
Is it really that surprising that Speaker Pelosi promised the most transparent, ethical, blah blah blah Congress evah and that President Obama promised televised openness, transparency, and blah blah blah in the taxpayer funded universal healthcare debate … and in reality we got the exact opposite extreme?
I mean, c’mon people, these are Politicians we’re talking about here. EVERYONE had to have had the sense that they were just blowing smoke up your keester the moment they uttered the words ethical, transparency, and openness in the same sentence as Congress and Government in the same sentence!
I wasn’t fooled for even a second way back then. And for that, I was called cynical. HA!
SilverStar830 on January 7, 2010 at 6:48 PM
CSPAN, why did you even bother with the one hour allotted to you? You were used during the campaign and you were just used once again. You have set yourself up for the next
time. And there will be a next time.
You should be embarrassed.
diogenes on January 7, 2010 at 6:49 PM
If WE are paying for this we who are paying for this should get our bang for the buck. We taxpayers pay for pps and what do we get? Dear big brother says, nada!
L
letget on January 7, 2010 at 6:50 PM
And by the way, anyone who says conference comittees meet in secret is lying. When I was a lobbyist I sat in the audience on many conference committees, and on very contentious bills like tax bills. A lot of the work does get done behind the scenes by staff in terms of deciding which house will concede to the other on the various differences in the bill, but at least the public can watch and see which members approve of which concessions, and the bill does not get wholly rewritten in conference. Conference committees often get contentious even with the staff work done in advance. Lobbyists have the opportunity to make one last pitch to the conferees. It’s an important part of the overall legislative process.
rockmom on January 7, 2010 at 6:50 PM
FYI: NJ says no to gay marriage.
milwife88 on January 7, 2010 at 6:52 PM
They changed the withholding schedules a couple of months ago. Something else that was done in secret. At least one pundit has suggested that one reason Congress was in such a hurry to get the health care takeover done was to get it done before everyone got their first paychecks in 2010.
So the government is now taking more money out of people’s paychecks and keeping it interest-free until people file their tax returns in 2011 to get it back. This will artifically reduce the deficit this year too.
You need to increase your withholding allowances to get your withholding back to where it was.
rockmom on January 7, 2010 at 6:54 PM
Please watch the video. Many of you commenting are misleading assuming that the hour will be forth coming.
It is not.
The hour was ALREADY given to C-SPAN. IT ALREADY HAPPENED and the video describes it as a put on sham show.
TriciaNC on January 7, 2010 at 6:56 PM
What? You guys think the Proletariat was allowed to watch the Politboro control their lives? Same thing.
kingsjester on January 7, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Lunch HOUR? Their coffee break lasts an hour, and that’s four times a session.
leftnomore on January 7, 2010 at 7:05 PM
Don’t be setting your Tivo’s to this. It already happened.
milwife88 on January 7, 2010 at 7:06 PM
At least until Bush’s old pal TEddy Olsen gets it overturned in CA and the Supreme Court.
leftnomore on January 7, 2010 at 7:07 PM
Harry Reid: Now, let us begin the debate on the health care reform bill.
C-SPAN: That ends our coverage of the Congressional negotiations on health care. We now join our important documentary on the question: Who is Trig Palin’s mother?
Steve Z on January 7, 2010 at 7:07 PM
This is being reported on the alphabet channels now. The demonrats are going to take a beating for their lack of promised transparency.
farright on January 7, 2010 at 7:08 PM
C-Span should be happy. That is an hour more than Republican’s received.
derft on January 7, 2010 at 7:08 PM
( :
Like your name, leftnomore.
yoda on January 7, 2010 at 7:10 PM
One hour, huh? What a coincidence; I’m giving them just an hour to read the entire bill to me, then offer me at least 30 great reasons, fleshed out with Powerpoint presentations on each one, as to why I should accept it….
…..and the clock is running.
dmh0667 on January 7, 2010 at 7:18 PM
Because the media is always behind the times and, with the plunging favorables, it’s been cool to be critical of The Messiah for awhile now?
obladioblada on January 7, 2010 at 7:19 PM
Some one needs to spoof this.
the_nile on January 7, 2010 at 7:27 PM
OT–milwife–are you staying warm, and out of this blizzard–I think I remember you are from Iowa…
lovingmyUSA on January 7, 2010 at 7:53 PM
Imagine if this had been Bush or the Republican-controlled Congress doing something like this. About this point in time, the widespread outrage from the media would have been at the decibel level that is known to cause physical pain.
pilamaye on January 7, 2010 at 6:38 PM
I know we have all done the “imagine Bush…” scenario, but let what pilamaye says sink in for a minute – imagine that George Bush and the Republicans attempted to take over 1/6 of the entire economy, pulling out all the stops with bribes, secret meetings, tax payer hundreds of millions used as their own slush funds to pay off whoever needed paying, secret and closed legislating and all the while enslaving us all in the process, ensuring us a future of crushing debt, death panels and misery. Hmmm. The Democrats would have no hesitation, as the minority party, in calling for impeachment and imprisonment of Bush and the entire Republican Congress AND they would have used every trick in the book to stop it. Of course, they would have been right to do so. They would have taken no prisoners. And they would have stopped it.
Instead, we have the GOP helping the Dems shred the Constitution, and lying about “having done all they could to stop this health care bill”. All the GOP had to do was simply exercise their right to have both of the 2,500 page bills read out loud – twice in the House, and twice in the Senate – resulting in the bill not getting to where it is right now until late spring. This tactic was owed to us, we are entitled to know what is in this bill, and if it was delayed until spring, with the 2010 elections heating up, this simple action would most likely have killed the bill.
But because NOT ONE GOP “REPRESENTATIVE” had the STATEMANSHIP TO HAVE A BILL READ THAT NEEDS TO BE READ AS NO OTHER HAS IN OUR HISTORY; BECAUSE NOT ONE GOP MEMBER WOULD DO THE RIGHT THING FOR THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY WHEN MILLIONS OF OTHERS HAVE GIVEN THEIR VERY LIVES; WE ARE NOW ON THE BRINK OF OBAMA’S TRIUMPHANT VISION OF THE “TOTAL TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA”.
In my mind the GOP are worse than the dems, because they pretended to be opposed to this bill. They are EVERY BIT as traitorous as the Leftists.
And all the while we were doing our part – tea parties, marches to D.C., phone calls, pink slips, letters, faxes; we had every Republican’s backside covered and they still would not do their part, the part we couldn’t do inside those “august” Congressional halls.
When it comes time to vote again, you can bet that I’m going for “purity”. I will not support ONE incumbent GOP rep. They are the Benedict Arnolds and God help us if we don’t outsmart Acorn’s vote fraud and elect scores of George Washingtons.
tigerlily on January 7, 2010 at 8:00 PM
The Obamabots must have hit a new low in pissing off Brian Lamb…twice!!
I guess Brian didn’t know that the Chicago Way was coming to DC…there is no independent media…Obama will b.cast his word on CSPAN…got it Brian?
r keller on January 7, 2010 at 8:01 PM
Yep. His pocket is full of bucks. Our bucks. They all stopped with him.
JellyToast on January 7, 2010 at 8:17 PM
LOL … One Hour?
That’s pretty damned Soviet.
HondaV65 on January 7, 2010 at 10:20 PM
Brian Lamb is cool. He’s the absolute best interviewer on television, bar none. One could listen to his in depth interviews (BookTV etc.) or his hosting of Washington Journal with partisan guests and often hyper-partisan callers (some days that show is Moonbat Central for phoners), and never be able to guess his own political persuasion. A true professional. I still miss his hosting of WJ on Fridays.
Bravo Brian! This is what journalism used to be.
Agam on January 7, 2010 at 11:55 PM
Wonder if Al Franken will be the time keeper?
Dr. ZhivBlago on January 8, 2010 at 12:59 AM
It’s also caught fire because it insults the media. They want access and Pelosi et al is slamming the door in their faces. Remember when even Helen Thomas got pissed at Gibbs?
YehuditTX on January 8, 2010 at 2:04 AM
“I wonder …. why this particular lie has caught fire in the media.”
Surely you jest! It’s the media’s ox being gored, that’s why.
JM Hanes on January 8, 2010 at 2:31 PM