House Minority Whip Eric Cantor claimed on Fox this afternoon that the House Democrats’ press conference, which was broadcast on several cable news channels, proves a lack of transparency.
Cantor (and others) are saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff blocked people from attending to presser, where Democrats unveiled the House version of the health care reform bill.
Pelosi unveiled her bill “on public grounds, on the West Lawn of the Capitol, and frankly denied access to the public,” Cantor said. “You know, I think that says a lot about what’s going on behind closed doors and the process through which the Democrats are going about crafting this legislation. The people in this country need to know exactly what’s at stake.”
Video after the jump.
Cantor also posted a short video on YouTube, which shows a security guard telling an unidentified person that they’re not authorized to attend.
But the event was broadcast live on several channels and CSPAN’s web site. Although a small group of tea partiers were held by Capitol Police about 50 yards away from the event, they were close enough for Pelosi to hear them when they heckled her.
Republicans have been attacking Democrats for holding closed-door negotiations on the wording of the bills.
Barring a successful filibuster, of course, the bills will be debated on the House and Senate floors.
Late update: Cantor’s spokesman, Brad Dayspring, forwards along another video of someone being turned away from the presser. He couldn’t identify the videographer, but said the first video came from a Republican staffer.
Dayspring claimed the press conference was “representative of the closed-door manner in which Democrats have conducted this entire health care discussion.”
When TPM asked him if the presser, broadcast live on TV, was really “closed-door,” he responded, “Shouldn’t the public be permitted to attend an event on land that, after all, belongs to them?”
