Senate Republicans are under constant media bombardment for having the gall to keep mum about the details of the latest version of Obamacare repeal.
Take this article from NBC:
The Senate is closing in on a health care bill that could affect coverage for tens of millions of Americans and overhaul an industry that makes up one-sixth of the economy.Only one problem: Almost no one knows what’s in it.In a striking break from how Congress normally crafts legislation, including Obamacare, the Senate is conducting its negotiations behind closed doors. The process began five weeks ago, after the House passed its version of health care reform, with a small working group of 13 senators that included no women.The opaque process makes it impossible to evaluate whether there are any significant changes coming to health care. There are no hearings with health experts, industry leaders, and patient advocacy groups to weigh in where the public can watch their testimony or where Democrats can offer amendments.“We’ll let you see the bill when we finally release it,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters on Tuesday. He added that “nobody is hiding the ball here” and that people were “free to ask anybody anything.”
That this is even a point of contention proves one thing — ignorance of the legislative process. Legislation is not passed in secret, away from the public eye, neither are bills signed into law without substantial public oversight.
Everyone will get a chance to gripe, complain, throw tomatoes, and trot out a child who will most certainly die if Republicans don’t act!™ once the bill is finished and finally introduced.
But the media uproar isn’t about everyone, it’s about the media. They’ve been shunned the opportunity to intentionally mischaracterize components of a bill before its introduction. The dynamics are so out of kilter, the political press corps believes itself entitled to not merely observe, but to participate in the legislative process.
And that’s exactly why they haven’t been invited to the party.
Despite what major outlets are reporting, nothing nefarious is happening. No one is being blocked out of any normal process. There is no “stonewalling” (since that’s the latest fashionable Beltway complaint lodged at those not bending to media will). The media only have themselves to blame.
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