It wouldn’t have come to this is Obama put these meetings on C-SPAN as he promised.
The Hill reports:
Republicans on a powerful House panel, who haven’t been shy about flexing their new oversight authority to investigate the healthcare reform law, are setting their sights on a new target – the White House.
The Energy and Commerce Committee, which has announced several probes into President Obama’s health department, is now asking the White House’s health reform office to disclose the details of meetings between the administration and outside groups.
“We are troubled by the secret negotiations which apparently took place between the [White House Office of Health Reform] and outside interest groups, especially given the specific promises of transparency regarding health care reform,” Republicans said in the letter to Nancy-Ann DeParle, who headed the office before her recent promotion to deputy chief of staff.
The letter from Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), who leads the oversight subpanel, asks the White House health reform office for the following details by March 4:
- a list office employees, job title and salaries;
- a list of every meeting, briefing or telephone call about healthcare reform with outside groups;
- all written materials about those discussions; and
- all written communications between the office and outside groups.
Committee Republicans in the past two months have launched investigations into waivers provided for a provision of the reform law, new high-risk insurance pools created by the law and a new Health and Human Services office overseeing the insurance reforms.
Of course Democrats are upset about this investigation. They have hidden the truth since they started their takeover of the health care system. Dems definitely don’t want their secret meetings with lobbyist and health care groups exposed.
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