Sebelius for HHS Sec.?
By SilentPatriot Sunday Feb 08, 2009 10:00am
A source close to President Obama dishes to the AP that Kansas Governor -- and early supporter of Obama's presidential run -- tops the list to take over as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was near the top of President Barack Obama's list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department, a senior administration official said Saturday.The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private administration deliberations, said no decision was imminent and that other candidates remain in the mix. But the official added the former Kansas insurance commissioner was rising as Obama considers prospective candidates, in no small part on the strength of her close relationship with the president.
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seeing Sebelius as VP. But she's a damned sight better than Tax Dodger Daschle, a man whom Matt Taibbi said would suck off a corpse if it would benefit him.
I will always recall Daschle with great fondness for the abandoned alacrity with which he rammed Bush's Iraq war bill through the Senate.
A real quality guy.
Agree with you on this one. If he didn't have the balls to stand up to the Bush/Cheney lies then he wouldn't have had the balls to stand up to "big Pharma" and the insurance industry when it came to affordable health care for Americans.
and what did the "bi-partisansip" of supporting a disastrous budget busting Rethuglican war gain Daschle in return? The Rethuglicans made him target number 1 the year he lost his senate seat and the term "Dascheled" was born. That's what being bi-partisan with a Rethuglican gets you.
George Sebelius (sp?) was the first starring voice in WXYZ's radio program The Lone Ranger.
He later changed his name to George Seaton, and became a playwright. He was one of the writers of Miracle on 34th Street.
...please?
A payoff to an early supporter.
What a great concept.
Last she spoke on it... and I live in Missouri so get a good perspective, she said with the budget crunch in Kansas and with her husband being a judge she was NOT interested in any position in the cabinet.
Now, she could have changed her mind, but that was right before Christmas I think, and as far as I know, nothing has changed.
Seriously, I thought Obama was the change we were waiting for and he's just putting in somebody who picked him early on. It's old school politics. Where are the experts? I'm thinking someone with at least a Masters in Public Health. Besides can the Dems seriously give away another good Governor??
n/t
It's time to cut the crap and stop offering positions to people just because they were early supporters.
Is there not one progressive voice he can choose?
Is there not one Dem not currently in office that could?
Why is Doctor Howard Dean being ignored? Also, Charley.
so Dean is being ignored.
More and more I think of Rahm as Iago.
Sebelius may be a nice lady but former insurance commissioner? Not a good omen for one-payer health care without insurance involved.
We want health care not insurance based!
he never said he was for that...
His plan was insurance 'for all' though without a mandate of participation.
Weak, feckles, cowardly. Compromisers will trade a principle--ANY principle-- for an agreement--ANY agreement.
Compromisers agree to give shit away BEFORE they need to...
Don't look for courage in your basic political compromiser...
Umm...my great-great-great-great granduncle was Henry Clay, the Grand Compromiser.
Although all he really did was help create the Mason-Dixon line and prevent the Civil War for a few decades.
he principle being emancipation...
Glad he held out like that...
a teaspoon of courage in the whole cowardly lot of 'em.
n/t
I understand Rahm Emmanuel doesn't care for Dean.
And Dean is not getting the credit he deserves for the 50-state strategy.
But methinks, they think it best that he stay where he is for the good he he has unadmittedly done for the party.
have any outstanding tax obligations? Any skeletons in closet?
of her stance on abortion. So she won't confirmed!
and the falofel he rode in on.
Fuck O'Reilly
No, thanks.
was gonna be just as full of shit as all the rest have been.
fucking got that right, woody! Amen brother!
of a State which instituted very successful health-care reform.
If the Dims wanted somebody who could make it work, they'd name Dean.
But they want to preserve the status quo while making it LOOK LIKE they're gonna reform the system.
Insurance in health-care is like the flesh-eating bacteria in a hospital...
the DLC, DSCC and DCCC have declared victory and drove Howard to europe, where he is teaching how to take back the democratic process. we are too corrupt here in the USofA to enact any real reform.
I prefer Dean at HHS and Sebelius as the new senator of KS, but thats me.
Agree completely. And what is her health experience? A poll came out last week showing she would beat the two top Rethug candidates handily for Senate. Some days I think Obama is trying to limit the majority in Congress, for some reason.
H-O-W-A-R-D D-E-A-N
That she can run HHS better than she can give a response to W's State of the Union Address. Her response I think it was 2 years ago was absolutely horrendous
I said that because no matter who is chosen Obama should be impeached for not selecting the person whoever is angry wanted.
n/t
H O W A R D D E A N ! ! ! D A M N I T
DAMMITALL.
LOL!!!!
yet another DLC hack appointee for the Administration of .. 'change'.
LOL!!!
Obama... we dont believe you anymore.....
(anybody think he's even listening anymore?)
Robert Reich
but I would have chosen him for Labor Sec.
I really really like Hilda Solis for labor, though I expect Obama to throw her under the train, for "unity's" sake...
I meant Treasury. Yeah, Hilda Solis will have tire marks all over her in a bit.....3........2.......
is a danger to Washington.
He is liable to call the RealPolitik what it is:
CORRUPT
That makes him a Liberal
and a candidate for my hero.
I have a very short list of candidates for hero.
I will have to look to see if any are already in Washington.
A man with a plan...that is working quite well in his home state. Why not get a serious, established advocate of public health care into a position where he can expand it on a national level?
Like a lot of people, I'm afraid that Obama is turning into a pseudo-reform president. All show and speeches, no real action. Lots of symbolic ceremonies, but far too little of the real change this country needs so desperately.
Quit trying to please the losers and the liars, Obama. This nation has no time left to waste.
Actually having come from Kansas and known Kathleen Sebelius, I feel qualified to make a few comments that are knowledge-based. She has been an excellent governor and knows how to work with Republican moderates and has even converted some to the Democratic party including the present Lt. Gov. of Kansas. Remember, "What's the Matter with Kansas?". Kathleen Sebelius is not one of the problems. As governor she has fought hard for health care reform, stood firmly in support of bans on stem cell research that the Republican legislature tried to push through (which I worked on with her). Gov. Sebelius helped pass and fund a bill to encourage Biotechnology research in Kansas, has worked on making the University of Kansas Medical Center a National Cancer Center. She has been a successful governor of a very red state. She stood up against Bush and the Iraq war while many of our spineless senators voted with him to go to war. She would be excellent as Secretary of HHS. I believe she has the savvy to pay her taxes and help mold heath care reform with bipartisan support. Don't write her off because she gave one speech you didn't like. She is not a wimp but has a personality that would be complementary to Obama's style. She would fly through the senate confirmation process which is also something Obama really needs right now. She has been pre-vetted when she was up for VP. Those of you who want Dean aren't thinking of the confirmation battle with Republicans who hate Dean. Rahm hates Dean. Dean, while qualified, is not a good fit at this time. Also, having an MD doesn't add to your qualifications. Obama should nominate Sebelius quickly and have her confirmation go through quickly so all of these barely passed or had to drop out nominations can get out of the news cycle.
and us a favor by locating the return key on your keyboard and using it.
Create some paragraphs so we can read what you write.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog
Thank you.
I forgot that bloggers were such sticklers for correctness of spelling, grammar and style.
Forgive me, I am just an academic and we do tend to go on. I will keep my tendency to lecture and share knowledge to myself. It is obviously not what is needed on this page. You have all of the information you need to form knowledgeable, well-thought out opinions.
[D-O-I-N-G Y-O-U A F-A-V-O-R...Paragraphing makes your knowledgeable, well-thought out opinions much easier for everyone to read. As an academic, surely you are aware of this, at least on an unconscious level. Paragraphs are the readers' friend, that's all she was saying. You might say she was doing us all a favor. Too bad you are unable to take it that way-Sitemonitor]
Dear Sitemonitor,
It seemed as though I was being dismissed being "returned to your regularly scheduled blog", which I don't have, obviously, as my naivety about the culture shows. I enjoy C&L and read the comments of others with great interest, even when they aren't a polished piece of writing.
I mistakenly thought I had some information worth sharing, as well as some food for thought about the strategy of getting someone qualified through the confirmation process quickly. Gov. Sebelius is a good governor whose executive experience would help her advise Obama in maneuvering through the nasty legislative process. I've watched her fight tough battles that she has won by drawing a line in the sand and using clever thinking. She had confidence in me by having become familiar with my research on stem cells and hearing me speak. She asked me to call a state legislator who had written an amendment added onto the state budget to ban stem cell research in Kansas. I convinced her of the futility of that amendment.
Admittedly, I could have made the comment into two well-structured paragraphs or even a bulleted list. However, my point was that it doesn't seem that structured paragraphs, complete sentences or correct grammar are required on this page so my offense did not seem so terribly egregious. But as you said, she did all of you a favor. I have been properly chastised for my writing and dismissed. I will read on but will keep my thoughts to myself. Thank you for your helpful response.
You certainly had some relevant info, and thanks. I still would hope she would try to replace Brownback. I used to live in Kansas, and that would be a huge improvement and a great benefit to passing needed legislation.
My wife is an academic...she has done her share of university-level study and instruction, working as an adjunct professor. She has always bemoaned the lack of writing skills her students have shown, and has often been under "peer review", as well as critiques from her professors. All of which have hardened her to others criticisms.
I can only assume that you have not been an "academic" long, or else you would not have taken offense at such a minor critique as that given by Alice.
No, no, don't keep your thoughts to yourself--you had some good info to impart. If this guy can't read a paragraph of over 3 sentences, that's his problem.
Please don't get all butthurt because someone asked that you format your writing so that it's easier to read. You could just as easily have said, "Oh, sorry that was difficult to read. I'll keep your request in mind for the next time I comment."
You clearly have valuable things to contribute to the discussions here. But that little KTHXBAI *flounce* is childish and wanky. Everyone makes mistakes; be an adult and take the request as it was meant.
I always find reading on a computer monitor less agreeable than reading hard copy, regardless of the style or the content. Published hard copy, one would expect, would also have the benefit of the work of an editor.
But it was NOT that I was unable to read your original, it was that I was unwilling to take the time to search for the flow of thought.
You described yourself as being qualified to make a few comments, GOOD I might be interested in reading them. BUT THEN, you wrote 312 words in one paragraph! I lost interest quickly.
Now that I have taken the time, I have found 7 distinct points in your piece.
I was making no comment on what you had written. I am still not, but at least now I can read it without too much effort in following the main points.
If your are genuinely interested in communicating then it behooves YOU, YOU the writer, to reinforce the points you are making through style. The paragraph helps enormously with this.
You say you are an academic, if you publish you will have an editor. One purpose of editing is to make writing READABLE.
I did not presume to give you pointers on style but only that 312 words in one paragraph is not making it easy on the reader. This you should do for yourself.
Otherwise be prepared for the likely hood that very few people will read what you write.
It is ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST.
This is precisely what I said in the first place with far fewer words.
What is your purpose, to communicate or be a schmuck?
Sheesh!
-------
Try something like:
The first sentence of every paragraph makes your case. If I am lazy or in a hurry and only read the first sentence of each paragraph, then I still find all of your main points.
That is how you do YOURSELF a favor.
The big secret is out----it takes only 12 months to train a bright high school graduate to be a family doctor. The average wage of a doctor or any worker in the healthcare industry should not be more than twenty dollars an hour. This is a fair wage for a person who should spend only 12 months in training.
The average person imagines that a doctor is some sort of wizard that has magical powers to heal, but this is far from the truth. A doctor was once a student who didn't know the difference between a kitchen knife and a medical scalpel. Expensive and unnecessary years of medical school and a ten dollar stethoscope have created the modern version of the WITCH DOCTOR or MEDICINE MAN. The only magic that these doctors possess is the trick of emptying your bank account. It is not called magic but: "street wisdom".
The whole medical industry including doctors should be tossed to the free market system and be relieved of all government supervision. This idea will cause the biggest backlash since the suggestion that the earth was round instead of flat. The idea that the stethoscope is a magic wand available to only the chosen few is so implanted in the average persons head that it will take a constant bombardment of truth to remove it. The overpaid healthcare industry will spend billions of dollars to prevent deregulation. But they will lose to the fact that healthcare can be affordable.
The outcome of a deregulated healthcare industry will be that the consumer will be king. Word of mouth is the best messenger of top performance. The bright open heart surgeon that learned the trade in twelve months will have many customers when former patients speak highly of the doctor's skill. The cream rises to the top and so will the best doctors. Those that haven't the aptitude will leave the industry when they find that their waiting rooms remain empty.
...I take it you'd be more than happy to submit that heart surgeon's knife yourself?
fuck the beltway. it surrounds the bubble with the idjits in it.
I have know Gov Sebelious for a while. She is a good lady and very effective. Great choice.
This woman is the opposite of Lyin Palin. Man she looks wholesome and downright intelligent. I am a sucker for ethical women. Give me more.
Give me Howard Dean for HHS
Brownback is going to run for governor leaving his Senate seat open. Ultra-right Rep. Tiahrt is going for his seat. Polls show that Sebelius could beat him for the Senate seat. But if she's in Obama's cabinet then a Republican senate seat is guaranteed. Sebelius would be more useful in the Senate.
Oh great, just what we need, a born again christian for health and human services. Somebody wanted this bitch for vice president? Are you fucking kidding me? What is going on with this crap.
Sebelius isn't a born again Christian.
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