Republicans Fault Obama on Transparency
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Not even two hours before President Obama was to arrive at the Capitol to give his State of the Union speech, House Republicans were not letting up the pressure one bit. In a letter to the president, they accused him of carrying out secretive negotiations on health care legislation (PDF) and urged him to renounce any further backroom deals.
Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader.
Representative John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader.
In a news release, the Republicans accused Mr. Obama of repeatedly breaking a campaign pledge to let C-Span film talks on the health care legislation and of turning the White House into a “hub of backroom deals.”
“If the deals cut at the White House and on Capitol Hill are signed into law, millions of seniors will see their Medicare benefits cuts, while countless other Americans will see their premiums increase, their taxes increase, and even lose their current health insurance,” Representative Dave Camp of Michigan, the senior Republican on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement.
A dozen senior Republicans signed the letter, including Mr. Camp and the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio.
“During the campaign you repeatedly promised to hold care negotiations on C-SPAN. Monday, however, in an interview with ABC News’ Diane Sawyer you admitted that: ‘There is a legislative process that is taking place in Congress and I am happy to own up to the fact that I have not changed Congress and how it operates the way I would have like,’” the Republicans wrote.
“In light of your admission, and ongoing secret health care negotiations among Democrats in Congress, we ask you to again make clear to Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid that you will not sign a health care bill crafted in a backroom deal,” they wrote, adding: “Republicans firmly support changing the way Congress works and giving the American people the access to the health care debate you promised and that they deserve.”
Republicans have opposed the Democrats’ efforts to overhaul the nation’s health care system from the moment Mr. Obama identified it as his top domestic priority last year, and the bill is now stalled mainly because Republicans have vowed to filibuster it in the Senate.
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Source:http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/republicans-fault-obama-on-transparency/
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Note: Highlights added.
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