By Dave Andrusko

Part Two discusses a pro-abortion "wish list." Please send your comments and observations to daveandrusko@gmail.com.  If you'd like, follow me on http://twitter.com/daveha.

The headline for this edition of TN&V is the headline that appeared over a story carried this morning at FOXNews.com. C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb sent congressional leaders a letter which (to quote Fox News) "implored Congress to open up the last leg of health care reform negotiations to the public, as top Democrats lay plans to hash out the final product among themselves." (The full letter is reproduced at the end of this edition.)
That Lamb would even have to ask is, if you think about it, stunning.

The greatest change in American governmental structure in 40+ years will be thrashed out in secret by Democratic leaders of the House and Senate and representatives for President Barack Obama. The customary practice of reconciling the differences between the House bill (which includes the pro-life Stupak-Pitts Amendment) and the Senate bill (which does not) in a conference committee is, by all reports, to be ditched.

Then-Sen. Barack Obama helps Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to her seat before the start of a Democratic presidential primary debate held January 31, 2008, in Los Angeles.

Promises of transparency have been proven yet again to be transparently bogus. As Doug Heye, writing on a blog found at US News & World Report reminds us, "Even while Reid declared in November that transparency is 'one of the guiding principles of health insurance reform,' Democrats sought to work out the final details of the bill in secret and rush a new bill through before the American people know what hit them."

Why? "Poll after poll has shown the [health care restructuring] legislation to be wildly unpopular with voters," Heye wrote this morning, "and we all saw what happened when everyday Americans had the opportunity to voice their opinion to their elected officials during the August recess--bedlam."

As for Obama's part, I think many of our readers probably remember his almost two-year-old "cross my fingers, hope to die" promise to invite C-SPAN cameras in for gavel-to-gavel coverage. "That's what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are," Obama said in a debate against presidential rival Hillary Clinton on Jan. 31, 2008.

Lamb and C-SPAN have assumed almost legendary status for their objective, non-partisan coverage. Although his request will doubtless be ignored, in so doing the pro-abortion congressional leadership and pro-abortion President Obama are sending a terrible message to the electorate while simultaneously offering a reminder that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

To quote just one paragraph from the letter dated December 30 and released today:

"President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation's editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation's health care system," Lamb wrote.

"Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American."

The letter is reproduced below. Following that is one concluding thought.

Dear Speaker Pelosi:
        Representative Boehner:
        Senator Reid:
        Senator McConnell:

As your respective chambers work to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate health care bills, C-SPAN requests that you open all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings, to electronic media coverage.

The C-SPAN networks will commit the necessary resources to covering all of these sessions LIVE and in their entirety. We will also, as we willingly do each day, provide C-SPAN's multi-camera coverage to any interested member of the Capitol Hill broadcast pool.

Since the initial introduction of the America's Affordable Health Care Act of 2009 in the House and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the Senate C-SPAN has televised literally hundreds of hours of committee hearings, mark ups and floor debate on these bills for the public to see. And importantly, we have archived all of this video for future generations to study in the C-SPAN Video Archives.

President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation's editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation's health care system. Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the Chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American.

We hope you will give serious consideration to this request. We are most willing to employ the latest digital technology to make the cameras, lights and microphones as unobtrusive as possible.

Please contact me if I can answer any questions.

Sincerely,
Brian Lamb

While it is unhealthy for our system of government to bypass conference on such an historic measure, we must not forget that whether the bill is produced by the amendment process now anticipated, or through a conference committee process, the final bill can only reach the President's desk after an affirmative vote of a majority in the House and 60 senators. It is the substantive content, not the way the process plays out, that matters most.

Part Two