Why are the debt talks being held in private?

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) hopes to have his bill written before midnight Tuesday and on the floor Wednesday — observing the letter but not the spirit of a three-day rule before legislation is considered. The Rules Committee, an arm of the speaker’s office and the only panel to inspect the bill, is expected to prevent amendments from both Democrats and Republicans. The White House hasn’t been much more open — Barack Obama promised the most transparent presidency in history, but his negotiations with Hill leaders remain behind closed doors, and the administration hasn’t left much of a paper trail either with its deficit proposals…

“It’s terrible, and it’s got to stop,” Sen. Mike Lee, a freshman tea party favorite from Utah, told POLITICO. “To negotiate a deal under cover of darkness, behind closed doors and then come in at the final hour, just as what happened a few months ago with the continuing resolution [to avert a government shutdown], and say, ‘Here’s the deal. It’s prebaked. You take it, or you leave it.’”…

“The president has always talked about transparency and openness, except when it comes to him. That’s the truth. That’s not a revelation,” said a senior Democratic Senate aide. “The tough sell for not only the caucuses but the American people is a deal that was done amongst a handful of people.”