Despite being forums to question and receive testimony from public officials and experts, House committee hearings often rank near Cher’s Twitter feed as informative sources of information about politics and government. Sometimes this is because of the prevarication of the witnesses. Almost always it relates to the grandstanding of the committee members. But rarely does a committee member’s grandstanding make it virtually impossible to hear if a witness is prevaricating.
House Appropriations Committee member Rosa DeLauro asked Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price on Wednesday if his department would continue spending money to advertise Obamacare’s open enrollment, after the Trump administration halted ads in late January ahead of an enrollment deadline. “We aren’t going to continue spending millions of taxpayers’ dollars promoting a failed government program,” an HHS spokesman said, according to CNN.
Price’s initial response was that the decision predated his confirmation to lead the department. Then he and DeLauro became caught in crosstalk, which typified the Connecticut representative’s rapid-fire question-and-answer session. (She warned Price beforehand: “Mr. Secretary, I’m just going to ask a bunch of questions, because I just have five minutes.”) Finally, DeLauro not so much asked but stated, “You’ll do advertising.”
Responded Price, “I wouldn’t commit to any specific entity . . .” and then a string of words continued, which were nearly unintelligible after DeLauro began to talk over him. “Okay, that’s what we’re concerned about. That’s what we’re concerned about, Mr. Secretary,” she said.
Next question. Except it didn’t look like anyone could get the prior answer straight.
A transcript from DeLauro’s website quoted Price as stating, “I wouldn’t commit to any specific entity because many of these things are allegedly increasing the cost . . .”
A quote used in a CNBC story read, “I wouldn’t commit to any specific entity because many of these things are allegedly increasing the coverage.” That makes it sound like the Secretary of Health and Human Services is worried that promoting Obamacare causes people to #getcovered, which, if you take Tom Price to be foolishly indiscreet or Veep-level cynical, is plausible. But he is neither of those things.
What Price appeared to have really said, upon multiple playbacks, is that he “wouldn’t commit to any specific entity because many of these things that are allegedly increasing the coverage don’t.” Listening to a cost-cutting Republican in context, such a declaration—that HHS wouldn’t spend money to advertise Obamacare because it’s ineffective and wasteful—is reasonable.
Indeed, according to a spokesman for Price, “Your transcript of the Secretary’s comment is correct. That’s what he said.”
All that for a few seconds of audio. No wonder the public doesn’t bother for even a few minutes of C-SPAN.
