All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

After listening this summer to protesters crying out for legislators to "read the bill" before they vote on health care, a Senate panel amending a health care bill today held a lengthy debate about what exactly is worthy reading material.

The Senate Finance Committee considered for two hours today a Republican amendment -- which was ultimately rejected -- that would have required the "legislative" language of the committee's final bill, along with a cost estimate for the bill, to be posted online for 72 hours before the committee voted on it.

Instead, the committee passed a similar amendment, offered by Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), to put online the "conceptual" or "plain" language of the bill, along with the cost estimate.

Usually, the Senate Finance Committee considers "conceptual" language because the actual legislative language in a bill is filled with jargon and references to existing legal code that can make it nearly impossible to follow.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) described his attempts at reading the legislative language of a bill: "You read it and say, 'What did that say?'" The committee, he said, uses "plain language so that even I can understand" a bill.

Still, "this is not a normal bill for us or for the American people," said Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), who introduced the amendment. "The devil is in the details. The way legislative language is written could have a large impact."

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Thanks to the spread of misinformation from both the left and the right, there has been a great deal of confusion about what health care reform actually means. Yet while the White House is stepping up efforts to debunk what it calls untruths about President Obama's plans, the administration continues its backroom negotiations with congressmen and industry representatives.

The White House on Wednesday confirmed to the pharmaceutical industry that it stands by a deal it made earlier to keep Congress from passing on any more health care reform costs to the industry, beyond the $80 billion already agreed to, the New York Times reports. In June, Mr. Obama announced an agreement from the pharmaceutical industry to cut the cost of prescription drugs for seniors through Medicare by $80 billion.

According to the New York Times, the White House acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that as part of the deal for the drug industry's $80 billion concession, the White House would block Congress from passing on any more costs to the industry. The deal was brokered even though the president has said time and again that cost containment is a priority for him when it comes to health care reform, and even though he has spoken warily of lobbyists.

Furthermore, the White House's dealings stand in stark contrast to the proposal Mr. Obama gave on the campaign trail to keep health care negotiations completely transparent. As the St. Petersberg Times' Web site PolitiFact.com points out, Mr. Obama said he wanted to keep all negotiations publicly televised.

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Last month, when Republicans tried to stall energy legislation with hundreds of amendments, Democrats hired a speed reader to get through them all. Now, with Democratic leadership barreling through its hefty agenda this summer, it looks as if the speed reader's services may be needed once more.

Various grassroots organizations are blasting Congress for not taking the time to properly consider the energy bill or health care reform -- two very significant pieces of legislation.

Let Freedom Ring, a non-profit, grassroots organization that supports a conservative agenda, announced an initiative today urging members of Congress to sign a pledge to read and give citizens the opportunity to read any health care reform legislation before voting on it.

"For something as significant as health care reform, which influences 16 percent to 17 percent of GDP, I think it is important for legislators to know what they're voting on, and not have lobbyists and staff members be the only ones who know what's in there," said Colin Hanna, Let Freedom Ring president.

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For an administration that claims to be "the most open and transparent in history," President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday leaves something to be desired.

The White House posted a reasonably detailed background document on its Web site, which mentions a series of cases that she heard as a judge. But there are no hyperlinks or details.

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