Thursday, January 7, 2010

Transparent Opacity

That Congress is trying to ram healthcare legislation though as quickly as possible and with as little deliberation and input from Republicans is not surprising. Further, that promises of "unprecedented transparency" from Nancy Pelosi and the President are falling by the wayside was to be expected; we're talking about politicians.

Politicians as a class feel themselves superior to you and me. They're smarter, more educated, and uniquely qualified to govern. If you happen to have lots of cash you're willing to donate you can briefly rise above the clamor of the unwashed masses for a bit, at least until the check clears and there are no promises of more to come.

Dick Cheney was called out loudly for his huddling with oil companies in back rooms when working on opening up parts of Alaska and the Gulf Coast for drilling. Every administration does it.

What kills me is that, despite having one of the most secretive and closed administrations in my lifetime (and I was alive during Reagan; he negotiated all kinds of crazy crap behind closed doors), both Congress (through Pelosi) and the President are still telling us to our faces that transparency is carrying the day.

The press is belatedly catching on. Good on them. I hope it continues. I have a feeling the electorate caught on a long time ago. I think it's going to get ugly for Democrats in November. I think they know that, and it's exacerbating the lack of promised transparency.

The administration is holding out passage of healthcare reform as the silver bullet that will save a lot of Democrats their seats come election time. It seems more likely to be more like a coffin nail, but we'll see.

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