Sebelius, DeParle will have their work cut out for them
posted 3-2-2008 7:46 p.m.

&nbspbr>The Obama Administration today announced the nominations of its top two health care officials. In appointing two different people for those positions, the administration wisely reversed itself. Each of the nominees will have more than enough to do, once they are approved.

Earlier today, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius(D) accepted the nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, replacing former senator Thomas A. Daschle, who withdrew from consideration last month after his tax problems and position as a lobbyist complicated matters for the Obama Administration. Also, Nancy-Ann DeParle was named director of the White House Office for Health Reform. DeParle headed the Health Care Financing Administration, which oversaw Medicare and Medicaid, during the Clinton Administration. She was also a Clinton era health care adviser at HHS and at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Health insurance is a big deal, Mr. Obama, so take a little time to get it right
posted 2-24-2008 8:22 a.m.

 
The problem with most backroom deals in politics is that they’re completed in everything short of a vote before the public even knows about them. Average Americans like you and me have no opportunity to influence the result, yet often we’re the ones most affected – sometimes most adversely affected – by the result. Such a backroom deal on health insurance reform is afoot right now, led by none other than Ted Kennedy. And President Obama appears to have signed off on it. I'm betting it's what he presents tonight in his address to the nation.

Senator Kennedy has long wanted health care reform and championed that cause, even for a time favoring a single payor plan not unlike Medicare. That he should be talking to stakeholders is not the concern. He wants to accomplish something lasting on health care before he dies. But national health insurance, or even something close to it, is a far cry from what’s on the table now – and what is under discussion is more a full-employment plan for the insurance industry with you and me footing the bill than what most Americans want.

Health reform debates during the Obama Administration’s first week
posted 1-28-2009 3:50 p.m.

 
In a week in which 10,000 jobs were lost in a single day, with more losses to come in the months ahead, the weak health care spending measures meant to cover more children and unemployed are already virtually moot. Unless Congress snaps to and suddenly realizes its gross underfunding, the monies intended to expand coverage won’t even give the states enough to maintain status quo. And the states aren’t waiting: they’re already cutting back.

There is a solution, but the Democrats would have to be uncommonly brave to take it on. And they’d have to push aside all but a mere handful of moderate conservative Republicans to get it done. The economic disaster is of great enough proportions to justify it; but that doesn’t mean the majority in the House and Senate will work up the nerve and twist enough moderate arms to get it done. And they're in too big of a hurry, as is the President.

A workforce for today and tomorrow
posted 1-15-2009 3:03 a.m.

 
President Obama is saying all the right things about rebuilding not just the physical infrastructure of the nation, but also the workforce infrastructure, in that he thinks there's plenty of opportunity to create new jobs by encouraging the proliferation of newer, greener industries. He's right, as far as that goes — but who's going to be the innovators of those industries if not scientists and engineers, those folks we need but don't have enough of? Not only do we not respect those people we call geeks, we don't graduate enough of them for this future workforce.

Mr. Obama's got to do a lot of fast talking and faster planning to solve this situation before he can convince Congress — because Congress is way behind on this issue. And the Republicans don't even want to discuss it, because of what the funding consequences have to be in order to bring about the goal of more scientists and engineers. Better science and math education in grade and high schools is barely a start: it's college programs that really make the difference and will produce results sooner.

On the democratization (or not) of the mass media
posted 3-18-2008 5:25 pm

 
An item posted yesterday on CNet News at News.com was brought to my attention by a friend:

Were we wrong about tech and the democratization of media?
By Charles Cooper

Cooper's blog commentary refers to a huge 2008 report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism titled "The State of the News Media 2008: An Annual Report on American Journalism," which is so big — more than 180,000 words long — that it can be found on its own separate Web site rather than on the PEJ site.

Barack, Hillary, supermajorities, and keeping up with the primaries
posted 2-21-2008
amended 2-28-2008

 
My, but things move quickly in primary politics these days; blame it on SuperTuesday. Unless Hillary pulls off a miracle in Texas and Ohio (I'm not betting on that), she likely won't be a significant factor anymore, even with that many delegates. Not even the most faithful of superdelegates wants to be associated with a perceived loser. So it may be moot for her by next week. We'll see.

There are those who say that Sen. Barack Obama is at least not promising much of anything, compared to other candidates, and therefore he’s somehow more realistic. It may also mean he has a dearth of ideas other than some vague notion of change. But these same partisans point out that he’s had less experience and less clout than Sen. Hillary Clinton and imply that he must be somehow more clever than she for him to be so much more ‘realistic’ in not making promises. Nonsense.

Getting the health care discussion wrong
posted 2-8-2008 10:14 a.m.

 
Have you noticed that ever since the media — mainstream and new media alike — began marginalizing Dennis Kucinich during the presidential primary campaign, the conversation about health care reform began drifting away from any real reform?

What was a public dialog about national health insurance and universal coverage suddenly began to slide into one about whose plan would cover more people. That was a real change in conversation, and it amounts to an unchallenged bait and switch.

Now, nobody seems to have noticed that the discussion is no longer about universal coverage — because, of course, universal literally means everyone would be covered. And neither Sen. Clinton’s proposal, nor the less ambitious (read: superficial) plans proffered by Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain, let alone Gov. Huckabee, was ever intended to cover everyone. And though much has been made of Tom Daschle's book on health reform, there really isn't anything in there that will truly cover everyone, either. If voters think that any of these proposals would cover everyone, or almost everyone, they’re sadly mistaken. Remarkably, the press hasn’t pointed this out yet, probably because it didn't notice, either.