So lobbyists and executives representing the energy industry having private talks with the Vice President represent same kind of evil cabal, while lobbyists and executives representing health care interests have nothing but the good of the people in mind.

Right.

President Barack Obama’s administration began holding private meetings with health industry executives at the White House a few weeks after he took office, a visitor list released Wednesday night by the White House shows. Lobbyists were among those there to talk health care. …

Obama released a list of White House visits by health care executives after a government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, announced it planned to sue to try to get White House visitor logs. Only names and dates were released, not the visitors’ titles or employers.

So far, the Obama administration is following a Bush administration policy of refusing to release the logs, which are maintained by the Secret Service.

In recent weeks, the White House has announced agreements under which hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry promised cost savings in return for an expanded base of insured patients. The deals were struck in private meetings, drawing comparisons to Vice President Dick Cheney’s secret talks with the energy industry as he helped President George W. Bush draft a national energy policy. Cheney’s 2001 meetings drew criticism from Democrats throughout the Bush years.

[emphasis added]