In light of the recent election of a Republican to fill the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat, the challenge of passing a sweeping reform bill to overhaul America’s health care system might appear to have gotten a little bit harder. But to those of us who view universal access to affordable health care as our most urgent domestic problem, it WILL NOT change our resolve. (more...)

Regardless of what happens today in Massachusetts, the health care bill is still worth passing, still a mission worth fighting for. Since my brother, Eric De La Cruz, passed away on July 4th, 2009 – in part because he could not get insurance due to a pre-existing condition – I’ve traveled the country, mobilizing people to get involved and apply pressure to our elected leaders to pass health care reform. (more...)

The sparks kicked up by C-Span's request to televise healthcare negotiations have erupted into a firestorm, as White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was grilled about the President's campaign promise of complete transparency, and responded testily. CNN's Jack Cafferty delivered a stinging j'accuse to President Obama, calling the pledge a "lie just to get elected."

At today's White House briefing, Robert Gibbs answered another raft of questions about President Obama's campaign promise to show all healthcare negotiations on C-Cpan. He was testy from the start, referring Chip Reid "to yesterday's transcript."

When pressed, Gibbs reiterated his answers from yesterday, asking if the media had lacked information about the healthcare reform process in producing stories. Finally, Fox News' Major Garrett asked Gibbs if the President kept his promise. The answer he gave was surprising.

"Yes." That's not what I got from his answers yesterday. It sounded more like "We did pretty well with that," a debatable position, but there's no way to square this with the President's promise to air everything.

On the other end of the scale sits Jack Cafferty, whose apoplectic comments during the 2008 campaign made him an unlikely darling of liberals. He came out firing at Gibbs and the President, saying the transparency promise was a lie.

While Gibbs is clearly wrong, Cafferty well overstates his case here, saying that President Obama "hasn't even made a token effort to keep his campaign promises of more openness and transparency." To be sure, the failures at transparency are big ones, but this administration still has a record of openness that is unprecedented.

The decision to skip formal conference committee negotiations, and not to televise them, is going to continue to cost the administration politically. The calculation here, I believe, is that entrusting the healthcare reform bill to a full conference of a Congress that can't get out of its own way is a recipe for disaster. If skipping conference saves the bill, it may well be worth all the bad press.

video Although most news operations seem more concerned with transparency as it relates to our clothing at airport scanners these days, the White House is taking fire anew over the President's campaign pledge to strip-search healthcare negotiations in full view of the public. There may be good, reasonable answers to these questions, but what the White House gave us yesterday isn't it.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was pressed on the issue of Health Care transparency yesterday, spurred by a letter from C-SPAN which requested access to the upcoming process of reconciling the House and Senate bills. Here's some of what Gibbs had to say:

Transcript:

Q Okay, just lastly, why can't you answer the C-SPAN question --

MR. GIBBS: I did.

Q Well, you didn't, because you said --

MR. GIBBS: I said I hadn't seen the letter, which I haven't --

Q Why do you need to see a letter? I mean, this is something the President said during the campaign and he talked about he wants everything open on C-SPAN --

MR. GIBBS: Dan asked me about the letter and I haven't read the letter.

Q Well, I'll just ask you about having it on C-SPAN --

MR. GIBBS: I answered Dan's question and I answered this before we left for the break, Keith. The President's number-one priority is getting the differences worked out, getting a bill to the House and the Senate. We've filled your newspaper and many others with the back-and-forth and the details of what's in these bills. I don't want to keep that from continuing to happen. I don't think there's anybody that would say that we haven't had a thorough, robust, now spanning two calendar years' debate on health care.

Q There are a lot of reasons not to do it on C-SPAN -- people could showboat. Does he regret making that statement during the campaign?

MR. GIBBS: No.

This isn't the first time this has come up, and Gibbs' responses are pretty consistent. This White House, as even consummate skeptic Jake Tapper points out, has an excellent record of transparency relative to past administrations. This has been the White House's drumbeat, that the Obama administration has been more transparent than any in our history. The release of the White House visitor logs and the almost real-time reporting of Recovery Act data are good examples of this, as well as some of the problems that can accompany this kind of openness.

Even on Health Care, the promise of openness has been partially fulfilled. Gibbs is quite correct that there has been an unprecedented level of public involvement in the debate. An extensive healthcare summit at the beginning of this process was a model of what the President had promised, engaging a wide variety of stakeholders in full view of C-Span's cameras. Along the way, there has been copious coverage of various debates and votes in Congress.

But Gibbs' responses yesterday failed to address the most important part of that pledge, the one that has gone unfulfilled. Secret negotiations like the one between the pharmaceutical lobby, the White House, and the Senate Finance Committee are the Obama pledge's raison d'etre. Hours of debate and information are nice, but the real value of transparency is in keeping everyone honest. By meeting with insurance and pharmaceutical industry leaders in private, the administration has shielded the parties most in need of being kept honest, the ones most likely to poison the process.

In fact, the President even referenced the pharmaceutical lobby specifically when explaining the benefits of an open process:

If there had been television cameras at those negotiations with PhRMA, would that deal have ever been struck? Probably not, and that might be the tough answer that's being left unsaid. If the administration felt that removing the pharmaceutical lobby as an obstacle was crucial to getting reform done, so much so that it outweighed their pledge for transparency, that would be an ugly truth, but a truth nonetheless.

We were promised transparency filet mignon to replace the bread and water of  previous administrations, and we've ended up with Domino's Pizza. Granted, it's the new and improved Domino's, but still. The White House owes the American people a better explanation of the menu change.

video During a Fox News debate on health care yesterday afternoon, satellite problems prevented Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA) from taking advantage of his final word, proving to be a rather unfortunate coincidence for a network constantly battling claims of political bias. It's funny, really, to imagine the cosmic interference at play here as Sestak's views on health care literally cannot be heard. (more...)

"Bunny from Kansas" called in to C-SPAN yesterday morning, angered by the passage of Health Care through the Senate — and she did something about it. "I am so disappointed. I have taken my Christmas tree down, I have taken my Christmas wreath off my house. I have taken all the lights down," she told host Peter Slen. "This is supposed to be a Nation Under God, and it isn't. They have absolutely have ruined Christmas for all of the Senators and Representatives that are supposed to be under God. This is God's holiday for the birth of his son!" Not, apparently, for widespread health care coverage. (more...)

video They convinced Sen. Ben Nelson. They secured Sen. Mary Landrieu. Wouldn't it be ironic if the Democrats couldn't get to 60 votes because of Majority Leader Harry Reid's 'no' vote? Well it happened this morning, for a brief second. (more...)

video Earlier today we wrote about CNN's scoping out of new talent -- perhaps in response to a dismal year in ratings. In fact, in an era of opinion media domination traditional journalism, spirited debate seems to have been missing from the CNN programming slate, at least judged by total viewers. Well not so today, when Suzanne Malveaux got into a heated exchange with Senator Orrin Hatch over the current health care debate going on in the Senate. (more...)

Liberal blogger and Firedoglake publisher Jane Hamsher has come under heavy fire for an appearance on Fox & Friends in which she promotes a petition to kill the current health care reform bill. Liberal critics paint her as a "useful idiot" being exploited by the right, and point out Hamsher's own distaste for those on the left who appear on Fox. Hamsher has responded to the criticism, but she'll have to convince a tough critic: Jane Hamsher from July. That Jane Hamsher seemed to have a different set of priorities. (more...)

After months of the news side of the paper covering every twist and turn of the health care debate, the New York Times editorial board took a decisive step today, coming out in favor of the health care reform bill currently under consideration by the Senate. While they said that the bill has "some imperfections," they deemed it "a bill well worth passing:" (more...)

video CNBC's John Harwood directed surprisingly strong language today towards progressives who are upset by what they perceive to be compromises in health care reform. Harwood said "if you're a liberal and you want universal coverage in this country, and think that you can do better, that Harry Reid can do better...they ought to lay off the hallucinogenic drugs because we've had a vivid demonstration of the limits of political possibilities on this issue." (more...)

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At about 1 a.m. this morning, Senate Democrats prevailed 60-40 in a procedural vote that moved the health reform bill towards final passage this week. But on the eve of that vote, former DNC Chairman Howard Dean continued in his high-profile criticism of the bill from the left.

Speaking on Meet the Press, Dean said there had been "too much" compromise on the bill, and that he "would certainly not vote for this bill if this were the final product:"

(more...)

video Now that the Democrats claim to have the 60 votes they need to pass health care reform, and the Republicans scramble for a last minute stop, the Sunday political morning shows were predictably overrun by talk of the Senate. On State of the Union, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was asked about the bill using a football metaphor and he took the opportunity to move the goal line, spinning a possible Obama victory into a long-term loss. (more...)

video MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan had on congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz yesterday, to discuss health care legislation, and its affect on the stock prices of Insurance companies. The discussion quickly went from spirited to pretty ugly, when Ratigan seemed unsatisfied with the responses from his guest. TV Newser noticed that shortly after his show ended, Ratigan tweeted "Will apologize for losing temper" (more...)

"He's the same old Joe who has been sticking it to Democrats on high-profile issues for two decades. What's changed is everybody else. In our increasingly tribal politics, both sides are more demanding of ideological purity than they were when Lieberman came to the Senate in 1988." --Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, explaining the Democratic aversion to what he calls "the Liebermonster" (more...)

On last night's Countdown, Keith Olbermann ran a segment attempting to debunk the story that the White House had threatened Senator Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) with closure of Offut Air Force Base in order to secure his vote on healthcare reform. The White House and Ben Nelson categorically deny the charge. (more...)

"Yesterday, we reported an unexpected political role for the American family dining chain that's famous for its wings. That chain, of course, is Hooters. They're famous for their ... wings. Right?" ...
... "I have heard that their wings are awesome."

-- Rachel Maddow, pontificating on Chamber of Commerce fraud and Hooters (more...)

video CNN makes some news! CNN's Dana Bash interviewed Senator Joe Lieberman last night for AC360 and when the topic of his political party affiliation came up, the former Democrat and current independent did not rule out a future campaign as a Republican. Lieberman told Bash that a move to the GOP remained a possible, though unlikely, option. "I don't know what I'll run as," he said. "I like being an independent. So that's definitely a possibility. But I'd say all options are open." (more...)

video Health care reform is a subject that often elicits blank stares and yawns from an audience. It not only lacks a clear and simple narrative; it's hard to follow the characters involved. Recent debate over health care has forced the topic back on the cable news rundowns, and at least one cable network has found their villain. His name? Joe Lieberman (sturm and drang)! Turns out, he plays the part pretty well. (more...)

On Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Facebook users were being plied with virtual cash (for games like Mafia Wars) to email their Senators to oppose a public health insurance option. The health insurance industry-backed website to which the ads directed users, Get Health Reform Right, is down today. We contacted the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, who runs the site, to find out why.

We reported last week that a government panel issued controversial new breast cancer screening guidelines, and predicted that the very real concerns they present would be twisted to raise concerns about the House health care reform bill.  Our prediction played out on Sunday's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, as GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz sparred about the new guidelines. Neither got it quite right, and George ran out of time. (more...)

On Thursday, former President Bill Clinton was asked if he would attend the Little Rock C.A.R.E. free clinic today. Rather than simply begging off of the event with the usual non-answer boilerplate about scheduling conflicts, he decided to slam Keith Olbermann for "politicizing" the event, saying Olbermann was "not helpful." (more...)

The senators of this great nation have agreed to give up their Saturday to cast the first vote for health care reform with the initial roll call expected around 8 p.m., according to the Associated Press. But that means a full day's worth of legislative festivities with the starting gavel coming at 10 a.m. this morning and no end in sight. But where should those engaged citizens hoping to tune in for coverage of the debate turn? It all depends on your obsession level with the United States Senate, health care reform and of course, CSPAN. (more...)

video Well this is surprising. Former President Bill Clinton told FireDogLake today he would not attend a free clinic event in Arkansas Saturday because MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann had "politicized" the event. (more...)

The Federal Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services has issued new guidelines that drastically scale back the use of routine mammography and breast self-examination. Others in the medical community have condemned the change, but the Task Force's recommendation carries extra weight, as its guidelines are the basis for minimum benefits standards in the recently-passed House health care bill (Title II, Subtitle c, Sec. 222). Between this and the Stupak amendment, a showdown is looming over women's health. Already, Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz has called for Congressional hearings, which are now slated for early December. (more...)

video Fans and groupies of NBC's Chuck Todd, rejoice! Thanks to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, you can send your thoughts, hopes, and even helpful hints (we love those) directly to the Peacock's White House reporter. At today's White House briefing, in a fit of amused exasperation at having to answer a question for a 3rd time (today), Gibbs asked his deputies to email Todd a transcript, reading his full email address on camera, and drawing hoots from the assembled press. Todd asked Gibbs if the Christmas deadline for health care reform was to get a bill out of the Senate, or to get one to the President's desk to sign. Gibbs replied that there wouldn't be a long interval between those two, and said "We want to get health care done by the end of the year." Todd and another reporter pressed, and Gibbs, after trying to explain again by referencing Schoolhouse Rock, said "Please send a transcript to Chuck.Todd@nbcuni.com," to a raucus reaction from the rest of the press corps. Chuck started to follow up again, and Gibbs stomped his foot, saying "I've just answered this three times! Three times!"  He then leaned in close to the mic and said "The President... wants to sign health care before the end of the year." Perhaps Gibbs can be forgiven his pique, since he already gave a "read my lips" answer to this at last Thursday's briefing:

Q Robert, you said you want -- you still want to get health care passed this year. Is there a deadline? And if it slips -- MR. GIBBS: December 31st. (Laughter.) Q If it slips into next year, does this become undoable because it's an election year? MR. GIBBS: I'm not going to get into hypotheticals of what happens next year. The President believes and I think -- believes we can get this done this year. Q Why isn't he setting it? He set a deadline earlier this year that he wanted things passed -- MR. GIBBS: I don't know if you can be more explicit than "this year." I mean, that's -- Q So that's the deadline -- December 31, 2009. MR. GIBBS: The guy said we're going to get it done this year. I don't -- I hope it's not news that the end of the year is approximately late in the evening on the 31st of December. But I can confirm that.

video We all know the stars of the House of Representatives - Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, John Boehner. But every few weeks one of the 435 other congressmen and congresswomen bubble up and into the media spotlight - and now it's Rep. Anh Joseph Cao's turn. (more...)

Fox News blog-enemy News Hounds has captured some of the online, anonymous commenter vitriol inspired since the House of Representatives passed the health care reform bill last night. On the Fox Nation article "The House Passes Government-Run Health Care," many of the 3,000+ comments are angry, factually inaccurate and even blood-thirsty -- an all too common reality for highly politicized internet content. (more...)

Robert Gibbs answer to David Corn of Mother Jones' last question at Friday's briefing is getting considerable attention from the right. Corn asked Gibbs about House Republican leader John Boehner's declaration that the House health care bill was the "greatest threat to freedom" he's ever seen. Gibbs' response was worth a slight chuckle, but they ignore his larger point. (more...)

When the Congressional debate of health care kicked into high gear Saturday afternoon, many news outlets had their coverage follow -- from endless updates on the Huffington Post to CSPAN's exhaustive video cataloging. Meanwhile, printed newspapers doubtlessly spent the day preparing their Sunday covers -- unable to foresee exactly how the vote and bill would shake out, but fully aware of its inevitable headline grabbing appeal. (more...)

I'll be honest: I didn't read the Health Care bill. I didn't attend a Tea Party or or a Town Hall. On any given day, I couldn't tell you the state of the public option or Sarah Palin's views on death panels. In many ways, therefore, I'm a regular voter. Most people, even accounting for inflation, weren't involved in protests over health care, and didn't make calls for Obama. Most people didn't watch C-SPAN all day yesterday. Most people don't pay attention, but get their information tangentially. With the exception of the C-SPAN thing, that's me. And, as a regular voter, not a Capitol Hill wonk, it's hard for me to see the House vote on health care as anything but a massive victory for President Obama. (more...)

At 11:15 pm last night, the House health care reform bill passed by a vote of 220-215 to elated cheers from the Democrats. There were 39 Democratic "Nay" votes, and one Republican "Yea," Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La). The Senate still has to pass its version of the bill, but for now, this is a moment of celebration for Democrats and proponents of health care reform. (more...)

Last night on The Ed Show, guest host David Shuster welcomed Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitas and former Colorado congressman and Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo for a debate about health care reform. But a personal blow from Moulitas about Tancredo's deferment from Vietnam due to depression caused the politician to tear his microphones off and leave the show. (more...)

It is with the heaviest heart and through many tears that I share this story. My fight for health care reform is a personal one, and one that I feel I need to share. (more...)

review On Election Day this Tuesday, HBO will premiere By The People, which chronicles Barack Obama's campaign to win the presidency of the United States. (more...)

While the salvos between FNC and the White House have recently abated, we are now only left to wonder: what the hell happened? Was there really a truce? Or was it more of a ceasefire? More likely, both sides grew tired of the back-and-forth -- or realized that they each got want they wanted out of the dust-up. Its clear why FNC loved the controversy -- it helped their ratings and allowed them to cover one of their favorite topics: Fox News. But what did the White House get out of it? Many media critics are wrong in saying that the Obama Administration was stupid for going after FNC. Why? Three words: Health care reform. (more...)

Yesterday afternoon, Talking Points Memo ran a story about the White House's reaction to discussion of an opt-out clause in the Senate's health care bill, "Sources: White House Pushing Back Against Senate Public Option Opt Out Compromise." (more...)

video Keith Olbermann delivered an hour-long "Special Comment" last night that was entirely focused on health care reform in this country. By sharing what he called the "eye-opening and jaw-dropping" ordeal of his father falling gravely ill and being hospitalized, the Countdown host referenced his father's recent experiences as a patient and his own as a primary witness. (more...)

video While direct comparisons between Rep. Alan Grayson's (D-FL) now-infamous "Die Quickly!" screed and Joe Wilson's "You lie!" don't hold much water, the two incidents do share one thing in common.  They have both given new meaning to the phrase "money quote." (more...)

video A relatively unknown Democratic Congressman from Florida made his celebrity debut on the House floor and in front of CSPAN cameras this week, and since then it's become the sound bite everyone's discussing (video after the jump). Representative Alan Grayson of the ninth district has now reached political celebrity because of his sarcastic rant describing the Republican health care plan, which went a little like this:  (more...)