C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb wrote to leaders in the House and Senate Dec. 30 urging them to open “all important negotiations, including any conference committee meetings,” to televised coverage on his network.
“President Obama, Senate and House leaders, many of your rank-and-file members, and the nation’s editorial pages have all talked about the value of transparent discussions on reforming the nation’s health care system,” he wrote. “Now that the process moves to the critical stage of reconciliation between the chambers, we respectfully request that you allow the public full access, through television, to legislation that will affect the lives of every single American.”
Lamb said his network would use “the latest technology” to be “as unobtrusive as possible” during the talks.
Not only should the health care sessions be open for viewing by the American public, but so too should every meeting or deliberation regarding every bill that is to become law. While it may be impossible to show everything on television, the internet makes it possible to archive every single second of what goes on in Congress.
The fourth estate is the final cross-check of our system, and it looks like the CEO of C-SPAN wants to do just that.
No more closed doors, no more covert deal making, no more lies.
Hey, if you’re not doing anything wrong, then sticking cameras and microphones throughout the chambers, meeting rooms and even the offices of our representatives shouldn’t be a problem, right?
We raise our glasses to Brian Lamb, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
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