White House Won’t Disclose List Of Health Industry Visitors — But Promise Of Transparency Is Still On Campaign Web Site
You may have heard today’s news that President Obama has declined to disclose which health care industry heavyweights have visited the White House to (ahem) share their ideas about health care reform:
Invoking an argument used by President George W. Bush, the Obama administration has turned down a request from a watchdog group for a list of health industry executives who have visited the White House to discuss the massive healthcare overhaul.
But what makes this more dispiriting, as Josh Orton notes, is the fact that Obama’s vow to banish secretive government is still right here on his campaign Web site (click to enlarge):
The promise: “Obama will amend executive orders to ensure that communications about regulatory policymaking between persons outside government and all White House staff are disclosed to the public.”
Meanwhile, Orton also notes that Obama attacked Hillary during last year’s primary for secrecy in her 1993 health care reform effort.
In fairness to the administration, it is currently undertaking an overall review of its policies when it comes to disclosure and access questions like this one. So there’s plenty of time for the White House to institutionally — and resoundingly — reject the type of government secrecy that reigned supreme during the Bush years.
But it seems fair to demand that the outcome of this review reflect the high-minded vow that’s still right up there on Obama’s campaign Web site.
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Is there something in the water they drink at the White House. This admin seems to march in lockstep with the Bushies when it comes to info-secrecy.
Hate the game just not the player.
Maybe they’ll disclose after health reform is done.
But we do have this group photo of some of the key White House consultants.
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/ancheemin/images/fiveteachers.jpg
Baby Hugo: Evolution of the disposable razor?
the new boss is an awful lot like the old boss… sigh
Damn. I voted for O, but i expected more. Between this and the Gitmo stall and the See-No-Torture policy and the Geithner/Summers Wall Street deathgrip, I’m getting depressed. I hope this isn’t the beginning of a No We Can’t wave that repubs will surf-demogogue into 2010 or 2012. All Dems have to do is act like Dems, and I believe they could hold the majority for a generation.
Plus ça change…
Just one more drop in the flood of disappointments from Obama. I campaigned for him and voted for him. Now I just think he is a fraud. He said and did anything to get into the White House and now will bend to whoever is most powerful in Washington to get him reelected. He will not get any health care reform. He throws the LGBT community under the bus. He is already using Bush-esque signing statements. He won’t close Gitmo. He is escalating our military occupation of Afganistan.
If I may speak candidly to the people lamenting over the “lack of transparency”: This is not a transparency issue. This is an executive power issue. The Bush administration was allowed to expand its executive powers to previously unrealized levels. Now, the Obama administration is not willing to relinquish that power. Frankly, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. No administration has willingly acquiesced to constrictions of executive authority, after said authority is expanded in a previous administration. The Obama administration is following precedent here. A candid assessment of fact here: If you don’t like Obama having the power now, why wasn’t it fought harder during the Bush administration?
The SECRECY AND LACK OF TRANSPARENCY, the campaign promise of ‘we the people’ being able to have the SAME HEALTH INSURANCE AS HE HAS and the BANKSTERS WELFARE taking center stage as opposed to ‘genuine help’ being provided to ‘we the people’ who need ASSISTANCE with foreclosures ARE THE REASONS I REFUSE to help him in anything more he asks of me since being elected. I DON’T LIKE BEING LIED TO – just as the rest of you who have seen these events unfold. We were there for him during his campaign and helped in every way imaginable, so for him to now fail us means he will not have the same grassroots support in 2012. And come 2010 and 2012, the GOP will certainly use these facts against us in their bids for office. It doesn’t feel good to know we were lied to!
can we stop with the corny “bush-esque” nonsense?
obama is acting like a politician, just as bush before him and clinton before that.
the “bush-esque” sining statements were in fact “clinton-esque” signing statements. the only difference was that it was a progressive doing it, so progressives were silent about it.
and you’ll be silent about this in the end as well. this will not, alas, end up as an item in the list of charges for some “obama crimes commission”.
all of the lurid pageantry of affected outrage progressives wrought during the bush presidency is just a set up for this joke – this collossal commedy you deranged zealots called “change”.
Greg – your last two paragraphs above put the proper perspective on this, I think. I’ll give the fellow and his team some time (it’s not as if they’re walking into easy stuff) but there are principles here that need to be followed through on.
Oh just face it, he was full of it from the beginning. He needs six months to review if he’s going to release names of the people that the Administration met with to make energy policy. If he didn’t explicitly campaign as the anti-Bush and waaa waaaa waaaa about Cheney’s energy policy, I could understand you giving him six months. The Big O is a Big Flop. The used car salesman that sold the Super Family Roadster to the family of four just looking for a nice station wagon.
Hey America, how do you like your change now? This clown had never even held a “real paying job”, and surrounded himself with Clinton tax cheat losers. What did you think was going to happen? ACORN – Criminals, Climate change – TAXES, 700+ Billion Stimulas – NO JOBS and 9.5% unemployment, Health care reform – TAXES and NO CHOICE, Government-run Banks, Auto and Insurance Companies. He’s put us all into bankrupcy so the governemt can raise everyone from birth to death. Can you say SOCIALIST? A great BIG thanks to all you perisites in America!!! There should be a test required BEFORE you can vote.
MadasHelinVA:
It took you this long to figure out you were lied to by this imposter? What did you think along with your other religious fervor voters that cornonated this disaster incorporated into the White House – or did you just not see beyond your outstretched hands waiting for the freebies? Thanks for your vote to screw up the United States for generations to come. Next time maybe you’ll be more aware of what is being said instead of what is being promised as giveaways to entice your precious vote – a vote that stands for not just what you want, but also for what is right for the rest of the country. How’s that Hope and Change thingy going now for you. We tried to tell people but thay just wouldn’t listen.
By the ay – where’s the Birth Certificate?
Think of 16 tons by Ernie Ford as you go through this…
Obama got elected now there is no end
The Democrats wanna tax and spend
Tax and spend us us into bankruptcy
with a tax cheat runnin’ the Treasury.
You spend two trillion bucks and what do you get
No recovery and deeper in debt
St Peter better call ‘fore it’s too late,
I owe my soul to the welfare state.
Obama is a leftist as he can’t deny,
Govern from the center is a great big lie.
Karl Marx Manifesto is his playbook
and you and me will soon be on the hook.
You spend two trillion bucks in unsecured cash,
soon the dollar will be pure trash.
Our bond holders we have to appease,
we owe our soul to the Red Chinese.
Obama and his people are makin’ a mess.
Bernake’s fired up the printin’ press.
Printin’ money that doesn’t exist –
no wonder America is gettin’ p#%ssed.
You spend two trillion bucks, they ain’t done yet.
Obama and Pelosi are pilin’ up debt.
I work hard for my money, this I don’t deserve,
I owe my soul to the Federal Reserve
I found a great dating site ________K issMillionaires.com ___where you have the opportunity dreaming about dating a millionaire and make it true! u dont have to be a millionaire.but u can meet one. I thought everyone needed to meet some miracle after all the terrible stuff in the news and the economy——————
On an issue as critical as health care we need transparency. The special interest of the people that helped get us to this situation should not be at the top of anyone’s list. It was reported today that Americans with private health coverage dropped to a 50 year low. These are the people that need the government getting something right for a change, not business as usual
I voted and campaigned for Obama because of his support of transparency. It disheartens me that he is not following through on his campaign promises.
However, my immediate reaction to comments like hebgb is to give Obama time. There are so many wackos out there that are willing to lie and exploit any information that I understand why he is holding information closer than before.
And I find it disgusting that somebody rewrites a song about corporate exploitation of the worker to be a right-wing screed using the same tired “socialism” complaints. And don’t even get me started on the sorry rhyme structure.
Credit where credit is due, this is nothing like Bush did: Bush didn’t go around acting like the POTUS had to disclose every person he ever met with. That was Obama the Genius. I think they used to call that hypocrisy, before January 20, 2009.
Just like Obama castigated Bush for holding people at Guantanamo without trial before Obama discovered and asserted his heretofore-unheard-of “post-acquittal detention powers.” Your man is not just a communist (like his dad and other heroes), he is a Stalinist. But I reckon his true-believer supporters knew that going in.
How little substance the nay sayers to President Obama’s’ actions are forthcoming. So they attack the man. Holey ****. he’s Stalin, ad infinitum. In reality he is moving us at a good pace. Although I would like to see more reduction of the tyranny adopted by the former administration, it is difficult to unwind such **** in just a few weeks. Hang on people, you haven’t seen anything yet.
In other words, come back and do your crying after a few seasons with this man at the helm and you will have even less material substance to complain about and I imagine even more of a reason to just attack the man.
I can’t sing so here’s the proof of birth:
hxxp://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
substitute tt for the xx
I guess I’m going to need to look up a couple more things but this was a pretty good strting point.
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It’s heartening to know that the US government is aware of the country’s problems regarding high insurance rates and premiums, especially with health insurance. The country is in an economic turmoil, people are in need of health insurance, and insurance companies want to take advantage of it. Good thing there are still some government-sponsored cheap insurance insurance programs in the US.
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