What Transparency?

The One stated again and again during the campaign cycle that his would be the most transparent administration in history. So how transparent is this administration? Let's see, it took months of pestering with the Freedom of Information Act and a threat of Sopena to get a chance to guess at the guest log-in book at the White House. They did not release the names, they merely allowed the media and others to submit names to them and they would tell you if they had visited the White House and how many times. That is certainly not transparent to me.

The mac daddy of transparency should be reflected in the Health Care process grinding its way through our Congress right now. However, it is just an indication of just how corrupt and single-minded the Democrats are. They are NOT going to go to committee to reconcile the two versions of the Health Care bill. The two versions have some major differences in them that can not be reconciled without major concessions from both sides. When I say both sides, I mean the Democrats in each wing of Congress. Republicans are as important to this process as the afternoon cleaning lady. No, they know that if this is done in the light of day, under the close watch of those who religiously follow C-SPAN, then their members will have to wage a war, or at the very least, fight for their positions in the bill so that their base and their respective districts can see that they are fighting for their interests. No, this has to be done using a rarely used method that pulls this process behind closed doors, out of the healthy warmth of the Sun.

Behind that door, they can speak frankly with each other and the President's representatives. This bill will be crafted at the White House with BHO's czars and the leaders of the Senate and the House. Behind those doors, they will decide on a minimum set of items that they can agree upon and still call it a Health Care Reform bill. No fuss no muss. They will split up the spoils and lay out the road map for the next step. This will take less than a week, heck, it could take a day or two to complete. Without grandstanding, posturing, and acting for the crowd, they will hammer this abomination out in short order and get a clean bill to the President before this final version is even printed off for anyone to read (posted on the Internet, really?).

Here is my prediction and go ahead and look it up later. This private conference at the White House will result in the essential framework of the bill getting agreed upon. In the next drawer over will be all the things that everyone else wanted, but was unable to get in the first run. Once the "Reform" bill is passed, a second bill will be submitted within a few months that includes all of these other items. Once Health Care has been cemented into law as a "Right" and not a commodity, then this second bill will be seen as absolutely necessary to repair the "short comings" in the first bill. That bill will then get passed before the November elections with provisions in it making its future repeal almost impossible.

There is a precedent for this. A very important one at that. The Constitution itself and the Bill of Rights (the first one, not the Second one that the Dems are pulling together now, you know, the old FDR version that has been updated for today). When the Constitution was being drafted, the Framers wanted to include all these rights in the primary document. The problem was that the New England states wanted to have specific provisions about slavery and abolition included and the South wanted property rights to be respected as well as greater limits on Federal power. It was argued that this was a document for the Ages and that these items were topical and relevant to their time. The Constitution needed to be flexible enough to allow for growth but tight enough to set philosophical rules that will stand the test of time. So, a list was drawn up of items that were objectionable to one State or another, one region or another and were set aside for future discussion. Those items would eventually become the Bill of Rights, passed after the Constitution came into full effect.

Keep in mind that during this entire time, the Federalist papers were being written and distributed all around the country. The people were aware of what was being discussed and had an outlet for letting their delegates know how they felt.

Today, voicemail boxes are allowed to fill and shut down, emails are ignored, receptionists are snarky and dismissive. The minds are made and the people have been determined to be obstacles.

Our Founders have once again become Revolutionaries. Our country has become a place that our Founders would have abhorred. Jefferson and Madison; Hamilton and Adams; all would scream at our current leaders and our people and demand that this be torn down and rebuilt. They would point out all the areas where we wandered off course and squandered the legacy of blood and toil that they invested in us. We are found wanting.

I have suggestions and I will list them in my next post. Its easy to complain about what is wrong, so I'll show you where I feel things have gone wrong and I will list their cures as well.

Stay tuned.

--Zavost