Beating up on Dick Cheney for his secretive energy task force was a set-piece of Obama’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Now, Obama may be working from the Cheney playbook. The L.A. Times reports:
Invoking an argument used by President George W. Bush, the Obama administration has turned down a request from a watchdog group for a list of health industry executives who have visited the White House to discuss the massive healthcare overhaul.
The group in question–Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington–had filed a FOIA request to get more information about these closed-door meetings, and the Secret Service has responded “no.”
CREW is now suing the White House for these records, a spokesman told me this morning, and the complaint should be available this afternoon.
Democrats’ plans for health-care reform include many policies that would benefit drug makers, insurers, and others in the health-care sector, which favored Obama over McCain by 2.5 to 1 margin in 2008 campaign contributions.
For instance, Democrats are now planning to mandate that all individuals carry health insurance and that most employers offer it. Health-care reform also includes subsidies that will help drug-makers, insurers, and providers.
Given Obama’s attacks on opponents of “reform” as profiteers (see the image above from his campaign website [via NAM’s Shopfloor blog]), this is a sensitive issue for him.
