A day after House Democratic leaders rejected C-SPAN’s request to allow television cameras in the room during the negotiations over health care reform, Senate Democrats also said no to the idea, agreeing with the assertion made by their House counterparts that the bill has been publicized enough.
“The drafting of this health care insurance reform bill has set new standards for transparency,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Manley said the public should be more concerned with “the Republicans‚Äô shamelessly transparent strategy to stop reform at all costs by relying on misinformation and myths. Their ploys are broadcast on C-SPAN for all of America to see, as much of it happens on the Senate floor.”
Republicans have joined in with C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb in demanding televised coverage and they are using the controversy to their political advantage.
“Democrats’ Doors Closed to the Public, Open to Tax Cheat Rangel,” blared the headline of a National Republican Congressional Committee press release, referring to embattled House Way and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., who failed to pay some of his taxes.
