Republican Weekly Address: Sen. Johanns

Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) gave the weekly Republican address. The focus is health care, and the Democrats' new 1,500 page bill.

He makes an interesting point about how Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid has picked winners and losers among the states.

Nebraska loses "$126 million for home health services, and many of the 38 Nebraska hospices would be in danger of literally shutting their doors."

But Democrats have given deals to senators from some states. As Johanns notes, "Why do Michigan, Rhode Island, Oregon and Nevada get special deals on Medicaid costs? Why do New Yorkers with Cadillac plans get a pass on paying the tax? It is shameful."

Democrats hope that if they negotiate the bill off camera and then make it so long that most won't read it (including most senators) they can claim to have achieved health care reform. "President Obama has promised open deliberations in front of C-SPAN cameras for all Americans to learn how reform will impact them," Johanns reminds us.

So much for the vaunted transparency of the Age of Obama.