Transparency What, Now?
I distinctly remember the Democratic Party making one particular word its Most Important Principle of the Year after it took over every branch of government in 2009. See if you can spot the magic word.
We are closer than ever, but we’re not there quite yet. And as we head for the finish line, one of the most important parts of this process is transparency. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, from a press release entitled “Transparency Is One Of The Guiding Principles Of Health Insurance Reform”, November 2, 2009.
No tyrant can forever hold back the force of technology. Because technology makes holes through walls erected to keep information out; technology builds bridges; technology promotes freedom. This week, let us come together to foster transparency and openness for our citizens and for all people of the world. — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from opening remarks at the World e-Parliament Conference, November 3, 2009.
But the way to make a government responsible is not simply to enlist the services of responsible men and women, or to sign laws that ensure that they never stray. The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they’re being made, and whether their interests are being well served…
Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.
– President Barack Obama, addressing senior White House Staff, January 21, 2009.
I guess we’re operating under the “that was then; this is now” principle because the Democrats in Congress plan on celebrating 2010 by locking themselves in Nancy Pelosi’s panic room lest we poor, stupid rabble see their health care negotiations. Polls that show we Americans don’t want what they’re peddling have nothing to do with it, of course. Remember, though, the situation was different just a few years ago, when lesser legislative tricks by the Republican majority so threatened the our deliberative democracy that it drove Harry Reid into a series of dramatic swoons. Perhaps the collective IQ of the American people dropped below the Reid/Pelosi Confidence Line between then and now, but I doubt it. I’d say it’s a better bet that the would-be totalitarians were just playing silly political games so they could get their hands on the power they crave so badly.
If you believe that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and Barack Obama really, cross-their-hearts-and-hope-to-die, want our government to be transparent, I have a certain set of college transcripts and a birth certificate to sell you.
UPDATE: It’s gotten so bad that Brian Lamb, the founder and CEO of C-SPAN who doesn’t have a single partisan cell in his body, has published an open letter to Congressional leaders asking them to live up to their promises and let him broadcast the negotiations (PDF link)
Other Posts of Interest:
- Dem Honchos Say Superdelegates Must Commit This Week or…They’ll Cry or Something
- Is Steny Hoyer Setting Up a Coup?
- Every Burns Needs a Smithers.
Category: Health Care Craziness, Our New Democratic Overlords
