A Sign that Obama Plans to Act on Healthcare Immediately
Although it’s not official sources are reporting that Obama has chosen Tom Daschle as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
After an earlier round of hand-wringing about whether President-elect Obama would push off health care reform out of fear of its economic and political costs, some experts and advocates in the field are increasingly optimistic that the incoming president will in fact act decisively and ambitiously to pursue reform in his first year.
These experts point to several very recent rapid-fire developments to justify their hopes, first among them the announcement today that Obama has tapped Tom Daschle as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Frankly, I think you can’t fix the economy without fixing healthcare. They go hand in hand.
Tags: Daschle, Health Care, Obama, Obama Team
I’m doing pretty well so far.
I called Holder and Daschle. I picked Richardson for Secretary of State, and right now it looks like it might go to Clinton instead, but Richardson is definitely in the mix.
I was definitely wrong on Greg Craig – he will be White House Counsel, which is not the role I guessed him for, UN Ambassador. Maybe Obama will go with Jim Leach for UN Ambassador instead.
Also, so far my bet on Gates at Defense is looking good, but Obama’s said to be looking at Max Cleland for a slot, which would likely be Veterans’ Affairs. That would mean my pick, Hagel, if he gets a slot, would be elsewhere – possibly Homeland Security, perhaps leaving my choice of Napolitano to run against McCain in 2010.
On the other hand, maybe Obama made a deal – McCain and Lieberman refuse to filibuster with the GOP, and Obama gives Janet Napolitano a cabinet job so that McCain’s seat is safe (while Joementum keeps his stupid committee chair). Who knows? Either way, I’m betting on Napolitano and Sebelius getting cabinet slots, and if either doesn’t, it’s because she turned it down with the idea of running for Senate in 2010 in mind.
The other sign that he means it on Health Care is that Ted Kennedy came back, raring to go.
Hagel could go to Homeland Security, Napolitano could go to Education, and Colin Powell could go enjoy his retirement. Anything he got would be a demotion anyway.
I’d bet on Colin Powell to NOT come back to government in a formal position, altho I think you are quite right that Education is his current mission in life…
True. You can’t walk down the street in D.C. without getting hit with a healthcare plan! 🙂
Fixing healthcare could be the best boost industry could get other than the credit market.
Very true statement Pandora.
I’m actually pretty impressed with the action on healthcare so far. It looks like coordination between the executive and legislative is already happening. Obama really has his act together, and Ted Kennedy is ready to leave one last contribution.
And while we’re fixing healthcare, we ought to really put more teeth in Privacy Laws so this crap doesn’t happen.
I agree fixing health care is essential, we offered Delacare which was universal health care but the Washington solution is very very expensive and the money is not there.
Any plan which passes muster with Democrats will cost too much and any plan that passes muster with the GOP won’t cover everyone.
I wonder what Daschle’s wife will get out of this post. She has been a lobbyist for years.
I find it ironic that after 8 years of spending like drunken sailors republicans are suddenly concerned about what things cost.
So true pandora! I have the feeling fiscal “conservatism” is going to make a comeback!
It’s more expensive to do nothing at all IMO.
You can read Daschles plan on line. It’s not single payer or anything close to it. Keeping those for profit’s firmly in place.
Then Daschle can implement Ted Kennedy’s plan.
Anyway, we’ll probably get something incremental. I doubt Tom Carper or Joe Lieberman (or Mark Pryor or Ben Nelson or Diane Feinstein) would vote for single payer. Stupid DINOs.
I read there’s already negotiations with the insurance companies. They’re agreeing to dropping the pre-existing conditions clause in exchange for a mandate for all. What do you all think? I think this is a pretty fair trade because you don’t want people to go without and then sign up only when they’re sick. It seems to me that Obama is a pragmatist and is going to try to work within the existing system, so I think it will take some incrementalism before we have one that really works for everyone.