Pelosi Won’t Give Public a Week to Review Text of Health-Care Bill Before House Votes on It

Published on June 29th, 2009

CNSNews.com – Pelosi Won’t Give Public a Week to Review Text of Health-Care Bill Before House Votes on It — Whatever happened to the public review promises made by the Democrats? What gives?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D.-Calif. will not give the public a week to review the final text of a health-care reform bill before it is voted on later this year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D.-Nev. has also declined to commit to giving the public a week to read and consider the final health-care bill.

At her press briefing on Thursday, Pelosi was asked whether the health-care bill would be handled differently than the stimulus bill, which came up in February. The 1,071-page final text of that bill was posted on the House Appropriations Committee’s Web site late on a Thursday night and then voted on the next day.

43 users responded in " Pelosi Won’t Give Public a Week to Review Text of Health-Care Bill Before House Votes on It "

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# 1 steelcobra said, on June 29th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

“Whatever happened to the public review promises made by the Democrats? What gives?”

2/3rds majority of the seats is what happened.

# 2 The Commodore said, on June 29th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

I seem to recall a similar issue when Hillary was in charge of crafting health care reform during Clinton’s first term. Now all I can imagine here is an overbearing mother shrieking at us saying “don’t worry about what’s in it; it’s good for you. EAT IT!”.

I’m not willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt here. Public airing or no bill at all.

# 3 AppleIIGuy said, on June 29th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Just shows that the only thing more crooked than a politician is a crook.

# 4 newrepublican said, on June 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm

All it shows is that none of y’all read the news. Mostly for IT reasons, that was dropped weeks ago.

Guess they didn’t discuss it on Fox Snooze.

# 5 roastedpeanuts said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

What is wrong with this country?

One would think things are getting worse but I’m starting to believe it’s just that the level of access we have to information has increased rather than the crookery.

What bs. Vote libertarian.

# 6 EvilPoliticians said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:12 pm

But we voted for Change! So Change they give us!

Fracken politicians. They know the public will not stand for the specific changes they are putting in place (not that they themselves have read everything). The Demobrats are pushing every agenda item they can while they still can.

Reminds me of Bush post-election ‘04 when he stated he was given political capital and was going to spend it. Didn’t last long…

# 7 chuck said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:20 pm

President Obama should show a little political courage and announce that he will not sign the bill if it hasn’t been made available for public review.

He has nothing to lose. The democrats will pass it anyway.

# 8 Dallas said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

Outrage.

This is was the one Congressional bill I was going to read this week.

Now I have nothing to do on thursday

# 9 deowll said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

This is the kind of crap that gave Bush the right to go to war any time he wanted, the Patriot act to spy on everybody, and the bail out for “Fat Cats Ripping Off the Public Are Us”.

They are trying to finish up using the same thing on the so called Energy Bill and they are going to do it with the Health Care Bill.

The idea is obviously to pass a bill before the public finds out what’s in it they don’t like. The problem is when the public does find out it isn’t going to be happy.

I don’t understand. Don’t the Democrats want to continue to hold power?

# 10 Greg Allen said, on June 29th, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I had to burrow a couple of clicks to discover that “CNS News” was one of those right wing news spinning sites.

C’mon John!

# 11 EvilPoliticians said, on June 29th, 2009 at 5:35 pm

# 10 Greg Allen

I had to burrow a couple of clicks to discover that “CNS News” was one of those right wing news spinning sites.

So the fact that it came from a right wing site means the fact they reported isn’t true?

Or does your allegiance to the Demobrats warp time unlike the non-believers?

# 12 bobbo, knowing the mob is not democratic said, on June 29th, 2009 at 5:47 pm

with rare exception, when has public comment ever been really helpful? The FEW cases I can think of is when our elected officials got into office and then proposed things opposite to what they had run on promised–eg, the continuing consolidation of media ownership.

But WE DON’T LIVE IN A DEMOCRACY. WE LIVE IN A REPUBLIC. So, the dems allow 7 days for loons to voice their “opinions” whereas the reps gave less than a day all with no foreseeable difference except the mob feels they haven’t been consulted?

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss because it is more about “the SYSTEM” than the people. Just as it always is.

# 13 faxon said, on June 29th, 2009 at 6:20 pm

So what? It is going to pass, no matter what anybody thinks about it. Brace yourselves. Just like the Cap And Trade. More bullshit from Washington.

# 14 SparkyOne said, on June 29th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

DEMOCRACY or a REPUBLIC it matters not. The Cub Scouts have “den mothers” and the US Government has “dumb mothers”.

# 15 Timuchin said, on June 29th, 2009 at 6:24 pm

More ominous is that they don’t seem to care what the majority of voters think. Are they intending to cancel the next elections?

# 16 B.Dog said, on June 29th, 2009 at 6:25 pm

Sheep must be ~~heard~~ a herd:

http://tinyurl.com/lrj397

# 17 Ah_Yea said, on June 29th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

#12, bobbo.

It matters because we the people want to know. Then we want to hold our representatives accountable.

It also matters because it shows either or both of two things:

1) Obama lied about a review period, and/or
2) Pelosi has more influence and power in the government than Obama.

I pick #2. Pelosi is acting as the Commander in Chief, and Obama apparently cannot do anything about it.

Pelosi is running roughshod over Obama at every turn. Congress is following her lead.

As I said from the beginning, “Who is actually in charge of the Democratic Party?”

Now we know.

# 18 Central Scrutinizer said, on June 29th, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Pelosi and Reid are almost as bad a Gingrich and DeLay were.

# 19 Nimby said, on June 29th, 2009 at 7:11 pm

How did Pelosi get out of “the CIA lied to me” fiasco, anyway? And now here she is saying FU to the public. One of the largest, most nation changing pieces of legislation ever and she says you don’t need to know what’s in it. Just bend over and relax. Everything is rush, rush, rush. Unless this health care plan is the greatest thing since firehouse poles were installed in strip clubs, I think the Dems are heading for a major upset in 2010.

# 20 mr. show said, on June 29th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

Why John why? Now I’m picturing Pelosi dressed as Wonder Woman and I think I like it a little too much. Curry’s right…nice rack!

# 21 Athon said, on June 29th, 2009 at 7:59 pm

Not like anything would happen if we read it would it?

Just a bunch of pacifists on DU looking for a leader that will never come.

Keep whining to each other…like it matters.

# 22 Athon said, on June 29th, 2009 at 8:03 pm

Now that I am on the soap box…next time there is a vote, get off your fat asses and vote for someone competent.

# 23 Troublemaker said, on June 29th, 2009 at 8:22 pm

How is this different than any other bill signed into law these days?

How many hours did they have to sign the Patriot Act, which was much more harmful to the security of Americans than this bill?

Ron Paul – Patriot Act – NOBODY READ IT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdT0RNYoFfM

# 24 yoiksandaway said, on June 29th, 2009 at 10:04 pm

(I don’t understand. Don’t the Democrats want to continue to hold power?)

Of course, but how does THIS hurt them?

1-They own the media, and if the Republicans actually find a decent candidate, the media will demonize and smear them into oblivion.

2-The Congress will have gerrymandered Repubs into permanent minority status, so even high turnout will not matter…the new voters enrolled by then (we don’t need no stinkin’ citizenship) and the ACORN canvassing will see to it that they will have nothing to worry about.

3-No one cares… did you hear Micheal Jackson died?

# 25 soundwash said, on June 30th, 2009 at 12:59 am

I’ll Bet you they dont show it because saves money by banning lawsuits against all medical practitioners..

Think about it.

Americans have been turned into sue happy hamsters.

If Uncle Sam is going to take over health
care, it HAS to have language that limits
(or bans) liability/damage/malpractice. lawsuit payouts.

Given our sue happy nature, GovCorp Medical would be broke in the first year.

Case in point: Tamiflu and Oseltamivir
have been given immunity:

HHS extends liability shield to antivirals used for H1N1

http://cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/jun2609liable.html

What say you people?
–a reasonable assumption?

-s

# 26 Rolfag said, on June 30th, 2009 at 3:41 am

There is a word that describes this type of leadership Tyranical. This is not what I voted for. This is making the Democrats look like slimy lemmings. Where is the vision, the transparency, the hope we all saw on inauguration day?

# 27 Misanthropic Scott said, on June 30th, 2009 at 3:52 am

I thought everything congress does was supposed to be a matter of public record. Here it is. I hope this link to the PDF works.

http://tinyurl.com/ltsenr

If that link doesn’t work, just google

house health care bill full text

It came up as the first link. Of course, it’s 850 pages.

Hey, at least the house is getting more time to review the bill before signing than they got with the PATRIOT ACT.

# 28 WhereIsDead? said, on June 30th, 2009 at 3:53 am

JCD,

You know, you’re getting to be as boring and predictable as all of these other neocon morans, who always repeat exactly the same thing, ad nauseum, no matter what the topic happens to be.

Did you realise, it’s getting to the point where we no longer need any article content whatsoever? Merely making up and posting a headline with any graphic or a photo at all, using pretty much random words, is more than sufficient to garner a few hundred carbon copy comments.

Pelosi Breaks Wind. Obama Sucks Straw. Health Insurance Exists. God Gobbles Atheists. Jobs does jobs.

I’m pretty sure all of those headlines, all on their own, no picture, no graphic, would garner at least a hundred comments.

I could write them myself or we could easily cut and paste comments from one article to another and no-one would ever be the wiser, including the people making the comments.

Worst of all, we no longer need to read the byline to determine which articles are yours and which were gleaned by the various editors.

Think about that one for a minute or two…

# 29 Misanthropic Scott said, on June 30th, 2009 at 3:56 am

[b]CNSNEWS.COM The Right News. Right Now.[/b]

Did everyone get that? Right.

So, this is not a reputable news organization but rather a right wing libel machine … as evidenced by the fact that they make the claim that we can’t review the doc and 5 seconds of googling turns up the full text on the first link.

When they say Right, they’re not kidding.

# 30 Misanthropic Scott said, on June 30th, 2009 at 3:59 am

#29 – Me,

Dang, HTML tags here. BB code tags on cagematch. Oh well, I think everyone gets the idea. The story is as false as can be. CNS News is worse than Faux News and even easier to prove that they’re liars.

# 31 RTaylor said, on June 30th, 2009 at 4:12 am

Lets assume the article is incorrect. Like another poster stated, what good comes from these public meetings. If you ever go to a local government meeting, usually only extremist gets up to shout out their agenda. The vast majority of the public is home watching TV, and don’t even know there is a public hearing going on. The existing healthcare industry will throw billions to hold up legislation that affects their bottom line. Don’t kid yourself that all MD’s want reform, they want more payment. There’s an old joke, “What’s the difference between God and a surgeon? God knows he isn’t a surgeon”

# 32 Olo Baggins of Bywater said, on June 30th, 2009 at 5:25 am

Rtaylor, you’re right. If it’s the same old regular rabblerousers then who cares. But when there’s a large public outcry for a specific issue that wasn’t there before, then the officeholders need to listen.

# 33 Don Quixote said, on June 30th, 2009 at 8:23 am

How many of you would or even have the ability to read a house bill this large.

Like John, you would only know what Limbaugh or Fox’s opinions of it are, and we already know that.

# 34 Nimby said, on June 30th, 2009 at 8:44 am

Hey, Scott. Just a small bone to pick with your find of the Health Care bill: it’s a draft for discussion. NOT anything even close to what they will be voting on. I heard on CNN, I think, the current draft is nearing 1,200 pages. That’s half again as long as the draft posted. What in the world could they be thinking of that needed another 400 pages to cover? Scary. But the truly frightening part will be the amendments! You know what amendment I would like to see? I’d like to make it illegal for any Congessperson to vote on any bill they have not read from cover to cover – personally. Not six staffers each reading 200 pages and then reporting what they found. Also, the OMB or IG or some agency should prepare a simple, say 20 question, multiple choice quiz based on the main points of the legislation. All lawmakers will have to pass the quiz before being allowed to vote on it.

By the way, just skimming through, I was amazed at how many reports to Congress are required especially since there is an exemption to the paperwork reduction act! Can you count the forests that will be sacrificed for this plan?

# 35 JimR said, on June 30th, 2009 at 8:51 am

RE: # 27 Misanthropic Scott, … well there it is, all 850 pages. I would be thanking you if I weren’t Canadian. Question is… how many true blue non-government, non-media, Americans will actually bother to read it? Of those, how many will understand it? Of those, how many will care to critically analyze it. And finally, of those, how many will bother to present any concerns back to the office of Pelosi?

My guess is we’ve lost 99% of Americans on the first question. Canada would fare no better. Sad.

# 36 Misanthropic Scott said, on June 30th, 2009 at 10:38 am

#34 – Nimby,

Presumably, we will get a new version on the web when enough people agree to it. As for requiring politicians to read the bills they sign, I think no one would ever be able to sign another bill.

This might be a good thing.

Certainly, PATRIOT Act could not have been signed in a matter of hours, if at all.

How many politicians can read? How many can keep their attention focused on anything long enough to read a doc of this size?

#35 – JimR,

Hell, even I’m going to wait for a reputable analysis of it. I’ve got better things to do than wade through that beast. Unfortunately, that will leave most of us getting out analysis from biased news organizations of either side. Correction, most will get their “analysis” of the situation from a 30 second sound bite.

# 37 LibertyLover said, on June 30th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

#36, Correction, most will get their “analysis” of the situation from a 30 second sound bite.

Amen.

Just like the Patriot Act, Bush’s Bailout, and Obama’s Stimupork.

# 38 Rick's Cafe said, on June 30th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

#35
Didn’t read it? That’s why there are experts who’s job is to do just that….including the elected officials.

In some respect that is a cop-out, but then I don’t personally know anyone who’s read all of the tax code, or even most of it.

It’s a rotten mess that we’ve allowed ourselves to get into.

# 39 DHZ said, on June 30th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Just one question…

Where’s the transparency?

# 40 Sea Lawyer said, on June 30th, 2009 at 4:23 pm

#38, Rick,

And when all else fails, towing the party line is a sure winner.

# 41 MoreGruelPlease said, on June 30th, 2009 at 10:03 pm

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world where, if lawmakers aren’t given sufficient time to read a bill all the way through, they would simply and collectively refuse to vote on it?

I would think that voting on a bill you didn’t read would leave you open to attacks from your opponents come re-election because you vote on things you don’t know anything about because you didn’t read them. I would think the mere threat of this would be enough to keep this from happening.

I’m just an idealistic nutjob, I guess.

# 42 Misanthropic Scott said, on July 1st, 2009 at 2:30 am

Interestingly, the entire constitution is far shorter than this bill and probably all others as well. Perhaps we should instate a law that no single bill can be longer than the constitution.

I also think that laws should have expiration dates to be decided on at the time they are passed with a maximum of around 25 or 50 years. If it’s a good law, it will be extended. If it’s a serious case of civil rights, it should probably become an amendment to the constitution.

# 43 LibertyLover said, on July 1st, 2009 at 5:32 am

#42, Perhaps we should instate a law that no single bill can be longer than the constitution.

I was real close to posting something similar but couldn’t come up with a reasonable length.

The Constitution makes a perfect ruler. Thanks.

Now we just need to keep from 5,000 amendments to make it longer . . .

I agree. You call your congressmen/senators and I’ll call mine. Maybe we can build support for this.

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