Whither transparency?

Barely nine months in office, American President Barack Obama was still trying to sell his own vision of change when he appeared in a nationally televised speech before a joint session of Congress trying to advocate a systematic change in the American healthcare system. He appealed to emotions and returned to his favourite political rhetoric that marked his presidential campaign benefiting from the legacy of a dead Senator, the late Edward Kennedy, to promote his plans. Though the speech stamped as a "game changer", his countrywide tour to New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland and the "open doors" phrase he referred to in his speech indicate a possible compromise on his tactics for selling the so-called "reforms".

Obama is becoming more aware that the my-way-or-the-highway approach relying on a continuously deteriorated popularity will backfire against him and started to be fully convinced of the well-known saying: Half a loaf is better than none. He knows he has a small chance of having a two-party endorsement of the healthcare overhaul and his team began considering a probable retreat on the public option plan by offering a restriction on its effectiveness in the case of certain private insurers' failure to provide affordable plans.

Yet, the seriousness of the legislation derives from the totalitarian tendency Obama is trying to apply on the system and the risk in approving such a scheme in a way that the Congress will find itself discussing amongst other things abortion and pro-labour legislations.

The plan shows alarming signs of a more dictating government-controlled system. Details reveal the government will require family visitation by government representatives to guide parents in the appropriate way in raising their own children.

Although Obama tried hard during his speech to diminish the credibility of the accusations regarding an article in the Bill that requires medicare payments for end-of-life counselling, he obviously, and not much of a surprise, did not mention the name of Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is the chief architect of this "extermination plan".

Ezekiel Emanuel seems to be affected by the Malthusian theory which said that economy increases in arithmetical ratio while population does in geometrical one. He was quoted saying years ago that medical benefits of a government-controlled healthcare "would not be given to individuals who are prevented from being or becoming participating citizens". The citizens he meant are the seniors who suffered under the same doctrine at the hands of Nazis.

A clear evidence of misconduct was recently shown when Obama held a "National Discussion on Healthcare Forum" in which he asked Americans to put forward their concerns online. The surprise came when those asking the questions were influenced or especially selected by the White House; a move that made some journalists complain to White House about the way the public is being misled.

Still, the hot news comes from the political arena itself as Obama is facing challenges from the "Blue Dog Democrats", a centrist wing in the Democratic Party that in several stances shares qualms about revolutionary reforms with Republicans. The first Senate battle is expected in about two weeks, when the Finance Committee votes on the Bill, taking into consideration the Democrats opposition to Obama's call for a government-run insurance. Their votes against the plan could knock over the 59 Democratic seats in the Senate. On the other bank of the river, there are the 40 Republicans who traditionally refuse to tolerate further government involvement in healthcare.

In today's highly electric and deeply heated political climate, there is a little chance Obama will fully get what he wants from the people. Americans started to realise that the worn-out slogan of "yes we can" which brought this administration to the White House started to fade to the extent that some began to show a unique kind of bipartisanship by merging "yes we can" with what the Republican Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted during the same Congress session to come out with: "Yes, you lie!!"

Rauf Baker is a Dubai-based journalist who specialises in Eastern European Affairs.