Though opening day is still a month away, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lobbed conservatives a softball yesterday.
In a tweet referring to the Affordable Care Act posted Tuesday afternoon, Pelosi wrote, “The truth? ACA resulted from one of the most transparent drafting processes in recent memory.”
Yesterday was not the first time Pelosi has made that claim either.
In 2014, Pelosi asserted, “the Affordable Care Act had more openness and transparency in its consideration than any law in many years.”
If the ACA is Nancy Pelosi’s standard for historic transparency, voters are in trouble.
In fact, it was the lack of transparency — marked by patently sleazy backroom deals with lobbyists — that generated so much grassroots anger over the bill seven years ago. Even then-Sen. John Kerry noted at the time that Americans were “disturbed by the process.”
After the bill was passed, John Boehner noted that it was forced through with “every backroom deal, bribe, pressure known to man.”
Reflecting on the passage of the bill, Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber said in 2014, “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage… And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical for the thing to pass.”
The blatant lack of transparency used to shield Democrats during the drafting of the Affordable Care Act is well-documented. But Pelosi’s revisionist history should serve as a reminder to Republicans currently engaged in the reform process.
Referencing the backroom deals, Boehner said in 2010, “This is why the anger that’s out there, frustration that’s out there, and frankly, I think, a lot of this is now turning to resolve — resolving that the American people are going to do something about this.”
Republicans must resist any temptations to make those same mistakes, lest they invite similar anger.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
