Democratic leaders are looking to forgo a formal, public conference to merge the House and Senate’s health care overhaul bills, giving Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House free rein to hammer out the final measure behind closed doors and thwart Republican efforts to stymie it.
The maneuver gives Democratic leaders the ability to quickly work through hundreds of differences between the 2,000-page bills and to keep control over the deals they will need to make on politically touchy topics such as abortion, taxes and Medicare cuts.
So much for it all being on C-Span. So much for the most transparent, ethical Congress in history.
Here’s C-Span’s letter to Congressional leaders.
Dems look to skip formality on health bills – Washington Times.