Sooner Be Blue

Remember that press conference when President Bush couldn’t think of a single mistake he had made? Well, there’s a new sheriff in town. President Obama told NBC’s Brian Williams ‘I screwed up,’ after Tom Daschle withdrew his name as nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

CNN) -- The White House insists that it was entirely former Sen. Tom Daschle's decision to withdraw his nomination, but some observers say he didn't have a choice.

Despite the controversy over his tax records and his work in a field that some consider lobbying, Daschle was expected to be confirmed. [..]"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/04/daschle.fallout/

Well, I must say I'm relieved that Daschle withdrew his nomination. Everybody says he's a great guy, but he just seemed to be too much 'in the pocket' of the health care industry...also his wife's connections to the HMOs. Defending Daschle's mistakes was not a battle worth fighting.

If Daschle would be so brilliant with healthcare, put him somewhere in the department not needing confirmation... in a not-so-public position. He can still help get healthcare reform through.

There must be qualified healthcare reformers who can lead HHS...who have no distracting issues. Why give Republicans a hammer to bash healthcare reform.

We need to find someone who actually has a medical degree, has worked in the health care field and knows first hand what needs fixing.

Former DNC chairman Howard Dean for example...he was, after all, a doctor and a successful governor who pushed healthcare reform through his legislature. He knows the evils of insurance better than most people.

But I doubt Rahm Emanuel would welcome Dean with open arms...there may be friction there. Dean is known as a maverick.

But hey, if Obama can appoint Republicans Gates and Gregg to cabinet positions, there shouldn't be any reason not to appoint Dean. Personally, I trust the guy...and he doesn't have the mountain of lobbyist baggage Daschle was carrying.

I'm not happy about Geithner either - a Treasury Secretary with tax problems in charge of the IRS? - like that's who we need to handle our finances in these dark economic times.

Here's what bugs me - the Obama team sent out a 66-page job application for these people that laid down the law pretty squarely. And yet Richardson, Daschle, Geithner and Nancy Kellifer all got to the point where it was the press, not the administration, who found them out.

Dang, it seems that Democrats come pre-wired for self-destruction.

I guess it's tough to find a clean politician or government official in Washington, D.C. I have to comfort myself with remembering that corruption and incompetence are always there...you have to consider the depth of it, and the true test is what you do when you uncover it.