The congressman from Nevada made some excellent points in a pointed news release.

The issue? Congressional leaders working behind closed doors on the health care bill.

“I think that’s wrong,” he said, adding that he would like to see “the leadership and committee chairs hold a public hearing.”

He expanded.

“No one is going to know what the legislation will look like when it comes out of the….leadership offices,” he added. “I don't know if they will combine them or rewrite it, but it is imperative we have the 72-hour process.”

He further said he had least hoped, “they post the bill on the Internet. At least the media could interpret the bill for the public.”

That was a congressman named….Dean Heller on Oct. 27, 2009, talking about Obamacare.

That same month, Heller cosponsored  H.Res.847: "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any conference committee or other meetings held to determine the content of national health care legislation be conducted in public under the watchful eye of the people of the United States.”

Heller, who also wrote an op-ed in 2011 lamenting “closed-door deals,” has raised no such complaints about the people's watchful eyes as Senate leaders have kept details of the latest Obamacare repeal measure secret. His last 10 news releases included nary a peep about the bill’s opacity.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Tuesday that he will release a draft Thursday and a vote could come as early as next week. That should be at least 72 hours but does not meet Heller’s prior standard of public hearings and Internet vetting.

Heller has indicated he would not support the House version of the repeal, but he has said very little about what the Senate is putting together.

The Nevada Independent made repeated efforts to contact Heller’s office to give him an opportunity to explain what has changed when it comes to transparency. We received no response. We will publish his response if and when it comes.