|
|
KENNETH P. VOGEL
White House senior adviser David Axelrod on Sunday pushed back against Republican characterizations of Democratic health care reform efforts as driven by the very backroom deals that then-candidate Barack Obama decried during his presidential campaign.
"I challenge the notion that it hasn't been a transparent process," Axelrod told host John King on CNN's "State of the Union."
Republicans in recent weeks have highlighted deals struck by Senate leaders to win the support of wavering Senate Democrats, including Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
But Axelrod said, "I don't think that there has been a more intensely covered debate than this health care debate. I think the options have been out there. They have been discussed and brooded about for a very long time."
As for Nelson's agreement, which boosts his state's Medicaid program, Axelrod said "I think every senator uses whatever leverage they have to help their states. That's the way it's been."
