December 11, 2008 12:08 PM
Welcome, Daschle; hello, massive health care bureaucracy
Barack Obama, he of the cheesy podium placard, has officially named Tom Daschle, he of the big health bureaucracy, to not only be secretary of Health and Human Services, but lord and overseer of the new White House Office of Health Reform.
The parade of moderate appointees is officially over. Daily Kos can breathe a sigh of relief.
Daschle, of course, is the guy who proposed the Federal Health Board, a bureaucratic morass modeled after the Federal Reserve Board where decisions would be made on what would and wouldn't be covered under federal programs, basically deciding on life-or-death treatment options with one fell swoop. Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation, who lived under Britain's national health care system, said, "The Daschle Board might be better described as the Supreme Court of Health. And given the powers he imagines for it, selections to it will be about as free from politics as nominations for a Court Justice."
The parade of moderate appointees is officially over. Daily Kos can breathe a sigh of relief.
Daschle, of course, is the guy who proposed the Federal Health Board, a bureaucratic morass modeled after the Federal Reserve Board where decisions would be made on what would and wouldn't be covered under federal programs, basically deciding on life-or-death treatment options with one fell swoop. Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation, who lived under Britain's national health care system, said, "The Daschle Board might be better described as the Supreme Court of Health. And given the powers he imagines for it, selections to it will be about as free from politics as nominations for a Court Justice."
December 12, 2008
7:32 AM
daliscar writes:
Daschle is a putz, hack and opportunist.
We can only hope he won't be publicly speaking or interviewed in his new job.
Any national health plan will be burdened with a coma epidemic from his Mr. Rogers on Quaaludes speaking style.
December 13, 2008
9:01 AM
Gary Baumgarten writes:
We'll be discussing Daschle's challenges at 5 PM New York time Tuesday December 23 on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com.
Please go to www.garybaumgarten.com and click on the Join The Show link to participate.
Thanks,
Gary