Last week’s health care summit was largely the result of outrage over the lack of promised transparency in health care reform. While that criticism focused on conference negotiations over the health care bill, the true failure of transparency occurred in the spring and summer of 2009, as the White House met with leaders from the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. I asked Robert Gibbs about it Friday. Listen carefully to what I asked, and to his response:

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.”

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.

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.

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 the 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. Who’s right, and who’s wrong? Plus, Mediaite has exclusive reaction from Lewis and Goldfarb:

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.

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.” While it’s tempting to applaud President Clinton’s courage in standing up to Olbermann, I’m going to pass.

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.

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 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.

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.

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. We’ve got video of the bill’s passage, and a statement from the President.

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” – both have used their instant notoriety to raise campaign funds.

When I saw this item at HuffPo, declaring that Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly backs the public health insurance option, I immediately thought “There has to be a catch.” But there’s not. Not only does O’Reilly nail why the public option is necessary, he also makes several comically half-assed stabs at pronouncing long lost Janeane Garofalo twin Nina Owcharenko’s name:

For 73 days now, I have been investigating the $80 billion deal struck between the PhRMA lobby, the White House, and the Senate Finance Committee. Specifically, I’ve been trying to find out why the White House and the Finance Committee didn’t disclose a monumentally important fact when I asked them about it in June, only to have it leaked by the PhRMA lobby in early August, and confirmed by the White House.

White house Press Secretary Robert Gibbs unloaded on the media today, criticizing their “he said/she said” coverage of the health care debate and focus on the more sensational aspects of recent town hall meetings (video below).

On Friday, the former Alaska Governor posted some grade-A crazy talk on her Facebook page, alleging that the Obama health care plan promoting “Death Panels” — where “his bureaucrats” would decide the fate of babies like her son Trig, born with Down Syndrome. The echoes of the accompanying cuckoo-clock noises had barely died down when Newt Gingrich rushed in to agree with Palin that Death Panels were, indeed, cause for concern. Exactly the health care issue Obama wanted!

In June, I wrote a story that raised big questions about the value of the government’s $80 billion deal with Big Pharma, and wondered if the deal came with the trade-off of killing legislation that would enable the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. Such a trade-off would be indefensible. That [...]

The Democratic National Committee released a web ad Tuesday that seems to have hit a “Marathon Man”-style nerve with conservatives online. Entitled “Enough of the Mob,” the ad features clips of recent disruptions at health care town hall meetings, including a “Birther” with what looks like a large wonton wrapper in a Ziploc bag.