Gibbs: Obama Has 'No' Regrets About Promising Negotiations Live On C-SPAN

[laughingliberal]

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs raised eyebrows in the briefing room on Tuesday when he said that the president does not regret his campaign pledge to allow health care negotiations to be televised -- even as the administration is set to break that promise.

Gibbs told reporters on Tuesday that he had "not seen" (and therefore wouldn't comment on) a letter from CSPAN's CEO Brian Lamb asking congressional leaders to "open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage."

In subsequent comments to reporters, however, the press secretary insisted that the process of crafting health care reform has been "very similar to what the president envisioned." <snip>

<snip> Did the president regret making that earlier promise? "No," he replied. "The president's number-one priority is getting the differences worked out, getting a bill through the House and the Senate."<snip>

Okay, does this come across as tone deaf? The president doesn't regret breaking his campaign promise? Is this like admitting the promise served its purpose and now was of no concern?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/05/gibbs-obama-has-no-regret_n_412082.html

[Luminous Animal]

1. In other words...

SUCKERS!

[laughingliberal]

2. That's what it sounds like. Regardless if this is true, is it a good idea to say it? nt

[Liquorice]

3. I wonder whether he was lying or just naive when he made that promise. nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. Very similar to what the President envisioned. We must have a different definition of transparency.

[anonymous171]

5. Now he's really starting to remind me of Bush. nt

[debbierlus]

37. + 1000

[berni_mccoy]

6. Except that he didn't break the promise. Much of the negotiations of HCR between

Labor, Hospitals, Doctors and Insurance companies *has* indeed been televised as these conferences were held in the White House.

These have been published on CSPAN's website.

Obama can't force Congress to do the same when it comes to the final hammering out of the bill between the Senate and the House.

[Luminous Animal]

7. What was televised with Obama was the kick-off events.

Negotiations with the administration were done in private.

[berni_mccoy]

8. No, go search CSPAN yourself. There are hours of videos.

[Luminous Animal]

11. I have. I believe that OBAMA had 2 kick off events with some health care folks.

Negotiations with Pharma & Insurance were done in private. Hearings and town hall meetings are not negotiations.

Feel free to show me the clips on CSPAN that show this:

"We’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies."

[berni_mccoy]

16. You haven't looked very hard. I'm so tired of debunking this kind of crap

I debunked this myth back in Jul. There are literally HUNDREDS of White House, Senate and Congressional meetings on Healthcare that were recorded and televised. You people need to get over your hate of the administration.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/berni_mccoy/710

[Luminous Animal]

19. Links to negotiations, please.

A summit is not a negotiation. A round table bitch fest is not a negotiation. Negotiation, Obama's term, is hammering out the details in public so we can see who is representing their constituency and who is representing industry.

[debbierlus]

38. BS - the MAJORITY of negotiations were behind closed doors

Perhaps you have forgotten the weeks of closed door negotiations in the Senate?

Perhaps you have forgotten the Finance Committeee went behind closed doors after having single payer advocate physicians and nurses ARRESTED for demanding to have ONE seat at the hearing table?

Stop defending the indefensible. Stop rewriting history. You are an accomplice to lies.

[closeupready]

39. Except that Gibbs implicitly conceded that Obama broke that promise.

n/t

[Hekate]

10. TY Berni--good luck getting them to hear you. nt

[newtothegame]

27. So why even make that promise if you're not *promising* anything?

It seems to me that you're saying that White House conferences are always televised, so luck held out and his prediction ended up being true.

[closeupready]

40. Gibbs is implicitly conceding that Obama broke that promise, so Berni is wrong from Day One.

n/t

[bluestateguy]

9. It was a promise he was in no position to keep

And hence should not have been made.

The president cannot "order" Congress to do anything.

BTW, this Administration is far more transparent than any in history.

[Luminous Animal]

12. So Obama didn't speak to Pharma and Insurance?

There were no meetings with him and other administration officials?

[laughingliberal]

13. I'd be good with seeing the negotiation he had with PhRMA where he promised he wouldn't let Congress

pass a law allowing the government to negotiate for lower drug prices.

[Luminous Animal]

14. Funny that, even DUers recognized that Bush was the leader of his party.

Obama? Not so much.

[ima_sinnic]

22. no, he could have been the "change" president & sponsored a WH conference

on health care reform, with the "big table" he so glibly "promised."
You don't think his staff could have arranged that?

This had nothing to do with "Congress," it had to do with talks "around a big table," with "doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators."

Instead, he threw the whole thing over to Max Baucus and walked away, letting the teabaggers take over and distort the whole idea of "reform"--and he said JACK about that. That was very handy for him, wasn't it? The country was either against "socialized medicine" or totally confused before Congress even started really deliberating anything. Somehow the "rapid response" teams that worked so well to get him elected couldn't be resuscitated to work for anything as important as health care reform--something Obama apparently did not really care so much about except for how it could benefit insurance companies.

But a transparent process "around a big table" would have made it obvious that We The People wanted a single-payer system akin to Medicare. The insurance and pharmaceutical sponsors of the president would not have liked that. What THEY want and what will most boost their bottom line is most important and overrides everything else. Now we are obligated to buy unregulated, expensive, worthless "health insurance"--YAY!

[Luminous Animal]

26. Like I said, SUCKERS!

He made transparent negotiations part of his stump speech around the country appealing to people's desires for HOPE and CHANGE.

He could have followed through in his sphere over which he has absolute control.

Transparent. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[leeroysphitz]

32. +1

Inconceivable!

[flyarm]

28. whoaaaa..wait here a second..the hypocracy here is stunning..so is the bullshit..

"It was a promise he was in no position to keep. And hence should not have been made.

The president cannot "order" Congress to do anything.

BTW, this Administration is far more transparent than any in history.

whattttttttttttttttttttttttt???????????

seems Obama has no problem pushing what he wants pushed through the senate and congress..Even Nancy..keep her powder dry ..Nancy ...isn't happy she is being pushed to sign onto this bullshit..by OBAMA............

HOW STUPID DO YOU REALLY THINK AMERICANS ARE, THAT WE ARE TO BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT HAS NO POWER OVER CONGRESS AND THE SENATE BILLS?? DO YOU THINK WE ALL JUST FELL OFF A TURNIP TRUCK????????

Maybe you are that naive ..or dumb..but the rest of us are not..so stop with the bullshit..it is not sellable..and please spare yourself frustration..do not go into a sales job..it doesn't suit you!



http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/pelosi-wants...


Pelosi Wants Excise Tax Stripped From Senate Health Care Bill

Brian Beutler | January 6, 2010, 9:44AM

After an afternoon meeting with House leaders and health care principals yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke in vague terms about what reform must accomplish: Affordability, accountability, and accessibility. "A triple 'A' rating," as she described it.

But aides say she's particularly steamed that the White House wants her to largely adopt the Senate bill in its entirety. And she's particularly unhappy that the White House has thrown its weight behind the Senate bill's chief funding mechanism: an excise tax on so-called "Cadillac" insurance policies, which she and many in her caucus have long believed violates President Obama's pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class. According to one aide, that--not the public option--was likely the reason she ribbed Obama at her press conference yesterday, quipping, "there were a number of things he was for on the campaign trail."

The House proposes paying for its bill by imposing a surtax on high-income Americans. And though there's been speculation for months that the final reform package will include a combination of both sources of revenue, Pelosi, who's already had to accept the demise of the public option, wants the excise tax gone.

That will be a tough sell with the White House, which has endorsed the Senate's measures. But other issues are coming into focus as House priorities as well. The House bill organizes insurance exchanges at the national level, while the Senate bill requires states to erect their own. Pelosi's proposal would also make mandatory insurance more affordable for individuals below 300 percent of the poverty line, require insurance companies to cover a greater percentage of health care costs, and would implement most major benefits a year earlier than would the Senate bill.

-snip-

[Fla Dem]

35. My 1st thought exactly. Pres has no power over Congress other than asking them nicely. n/t

[Don Caballero]

15. That promise has not been broken

The President does not have the power to broadcast these sessions.

[Luminous Animal]

17. He had the power for the ones that took place with administration officials.

And there were plenty of those.

He could have led the members of his party by example.

[Don Caballero]

18. His administration officials would have to be okay with the invasion of privacy

We civilians demand privacy, I think our policy makers deserve the same rights as we have.

[laughingliberal]

20. I'm sorry. Remind me who they work for.

The administration officials are public servants. If they don' t want to be subject to public scrutiny, private industry might be the better option for them.

[Don Caballero]

21. I just think that if this CSPAN thing really happened

it would be negative for the legislation. We need to get this bill passed and all this dilly dallying about only serves the interests of the Repugs.

[laughingliberal]

23. Not sure how this legislation could have gotten any worse with a little sunshine

I think the President said things he knew would instill trust in people that he never meant. Like saying the negotiations with industry would be televised. Meant to make us think the process would be transparent and we wouldn't get rolled by the corporate powers. Nobody made him make that promise. And the Repugs aren't the ones that wrote this piece of corporate fellating crap.

[Luminous Animal]

24. Write a letter to your dilly dallying congresscritter.

Congress seems to be holding up this universally loved Health Insurance Protection Act of 2009.

[ima_sinnic]

25. who do you work for?

why do "we need to get this bill passed" so badly?
All it does is force people to buy worthless unregulated "health insurance" that they won't be able to afford--not to mention the extra unregulated co-pays and deductibles.
I am self-employed and uninsured, and have been for years, so it's not like "I have mine and everybody else can go to hell." I'll be paying the "fine" for not buying this load of crap--so I'll still be "uninsured." But at least I won't be going bankrupt.

[flyarm]

29. +1..i have the same questions!! thanks for asking this person!! eom

[ima_sinnic]

34. something seems quite strange about it ... (nt)

[flyarm]

36. lots of strange stuff around here anymore!! eom

[Smashcut]

31. Are you for real?

Where do you get these warped power-friendly ideas from? Public officials should have privacy?

WTF.

[closeupready]

41. So is Gibbs lying? He's claiming that that promise WAS broken, and that Obama isn't sorry about tha

that.

[joeybee12]

30. Would you call this double-speak?

Whatever it is, it sucks.

[Individualist]

33. K&R