Promises, promises: It'll be on C-SPAN

Eight different times, on Jan 2008, 1/20/08, 11/14/2008, 8/28/08, 3/1/08, 11/27/07, May 2008, and 4/25/08, presidential candidate Barack Obama promised that his ObamaCare negotiations would not be held behind closed doors. Instead they would be televised on C-SPAN. He promised negotiations would be "transparent and accountable" so the American people could watch them. He even chided the Clinton's for their closed door health care discussions during the Clinton era.

But like so many promises made by President Obama, the reality is quite different from his promises. At present, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are negotiating behind closed doors to mesh the passed House and Senate versions of ObamaCare. No C-SPAN, no transparency, except Pelosi saying they are close to a bill.

This in itself should raise the ire of every American because this Conference Committee melding of the bills is always done in Congress and subject to more discussion and scrutiny. Considering the bill affects 1/6th of the American economy, you would think they would follow precedence. But not with President Obama's administration.

I guess we just must chalk up his broken C-SPAN promise as another, I was for it before I was against it? Was this the change you hoped for?

From The Heritage Foundation's Obama's Other Broken Health Care Promises:

1. Individual Mandate: ...Obama:'Now, under any mandate, you are going to have problems with people who don’t end up having health coverage...' Both the House and Senate bills now contain an individual mandate. According to the President’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, under the Senate plan, 19 million Americans would pay $29 billion in taxes/fines and still receive no health care in return.
2. You Will Not Lose Your Doctor: ...Obama promised the American people: 'No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise...If you like your doctor, ...keep your doctor...If you like your health care plan...keep your health care plan.' Again, the President’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirms that the current Senate health bill breaks this promise. Seventeen million Americans will be forced out of their existing health insurance. [Even more woes for Medicare/Medicaid patients--see Mayo clinic link at bottom.]

3. No Tax Hikes for People Making Less than $250,000: '...Obama promised the American people: “if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime.' I repeat: not one single dime.' Speaker Pelosi believes the Senate bill’s excise tax on insurance plans breaks this promise, and she is right... [and] There are a slew of new taxes in the Senate bill, many of which will hit the middle class...

4. Your Health Premiums Will Be $2,500 Lower:Congressional Budget Office,and Lewin Group,[disagree.]
5. Health Reform Reduces the Deficit:..'Obama: I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits – either now or in the future. Period.' [but] When the true cost of Obamacare is considered, the final tab comes to $2.5 trillion with an honest accounting of Medicare reimbursement rates netting a $765 billion deficit all by itself.
6. Tax Payer Funded Abortion: ...Obama: 'No federal dollars will be used to fund abortions.'[but in Senate version]Your taxdollars most definitely would be paying for elective abortions.

More viewing/reading: Jack Cafferty (CNN) Rips Obama on Failed Openness Pledge: 'Just Anohter Lie Told for Political Expediency'
C-SPAN CEO: White House Has Allowed Only 'One Hour' of Health Care Coverage
Pelosi: Very Close to Final Health Care Bill
Obama: "You can keep your doctor." Can you? I checked. I can't
Medicare Patients No Longer Accepted at May Clinic in Arizona

Links: Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, Jay Weber, Vicki McKenna, The Right View Wisconsin, CNS News, Mark Levin, Breitbart BigGovernment, The Heritage Foundation