Last November, in one of
several laudatory articles about [President Barack] Obama preparing to pick [former Sen. Tom] Daschle [as
Secretary of Health and Human Services], Karen Tumulty
of Time said,
“It’s hard to imagine a more useful ally for Obama to
help lead his bid for health-care reform…” Citing a road trip she went on with
Daschle in
explained, “The former Senate Democratic leader has an understanding of the
nation’s health-care problem that comes not just from Senate hearing rooms or
staff briefings.”
But over the last two
years, as noted
by Kenneth P. Vogel of Politico.com, Daschle has made nearly $5.3 million,
including more than $200,000 from the health care industry.
Daschle was introduced at
his confirmation
hearing on January 8 by former Republican Senator Bob Dole, who works with
Daschle at the Alston & Bird law and lobbying firm. Dole spoke
of Daschle’s “integrity.”
Politico.com now reports
that Senate Republicans are waiting to see if Daschle’s tax problems “become a
major media feeding frenzy” before deciding whether to support or oppose him
for the position of Secretary of Health & Human Services. In other words,
it’s not whether he is a tax cheat that is important. It’s whether the media
accurately portray him as a tax cheat and question the propriety of having
someone of questionable character planning a federal takeover of the health
care system.
But if they put the heat
on him now, it would constitute an admission that their previous favorable
coverage of Daschle had been superficial and slanted. Another complicating
factor is that Daschle patron [Leo] Hindery is a
member of the Board of Visitors of the Columbia School of Journalism. Other
members include Suzanne Malveaux of CNN, Jill
Abramson of the New York Times, James Kelly of Time Inc., and Richard Smith of
Newsweek.
Daschle’s preference for
federally-dictated and controlled health care is not a secret. According to the website of
the law and lobbying firm where Daschle works, Daschle favors “the concept of a
national board to oversee the
way the Federal Reserve regulates the financial sector.”
In his book, Daschle says
this would “create a public framework for a largely private health-care
delivery system” and “develop the standards and structure” for health care in
board created a single set of standards for all of these [federal health care]
programs, it would exert tremendous influence on every other provider and
payer, even in the private sector.”
This is nothing less than
a socialized health care system, in which the federal government dictates
policies and decides on the rationing of care and treatments.
Ironically, the same
website also says that one of
Daschle’s areas of expertise is “taxes.”
A favorable review of
Daschle’s book declared that “Daschle’s solution lies in the Federal Reserve
Board, which has overseen the equally complicated financial system with great
success.”
Great
success? Such a
review must be a complete embarrassment to Daschle and his collaborators in the
current circumstances.
The review, which was on
the website of the pro-Democratic and George Soros-funded
Center for American Progress (CAP), was published
on February 19, 2008, before the role of the Federal Reserve in the continuing
economic crisis came in for serious examination and scrutiny. The Fed is now
being sued by news organizations because it has covered up the nature of
trillions of dollars in bank loans and has acted as if it is unaccountable to
Congress or the American people.
This prescription for a
total federal government takeover of the health care system was described in a
quotation on the book cover as an example of Daschle offering “fresh thinking.”
The quote is from then-Senator and now President Barack
Obama. Another favorable quote about the book comes
from Senator Harry Reid.
Then-Senator Obama’s entire statement of praise for the concept of a
federal health board is that “Sen. Daschle brings fresh thinking to this
problem, and his Federal Reserve for Health concept holds great promise for
bridging this intellectual chasm and, at long last, giving this nation the
health care it deserves.”
Great
promise? Does Obama still hold to this discredited idea? This seems to be
as newsworthy and significant as Daschle’s tax cheating. However, in the wake
of the disclosure that the multi-millionaire former Democratic Senate Leader
cheated on his taxes, Obama has said he will stand
behind his nominee.
“Democrats are seeking to
prevent the controversy from growing into a full-fledged media firestorm that
could seriously threaten Daschle’s nomination…” Politico reported.
Daschle, who served as a
“senior fellow” at CAP, seemed confident of the future when he wrote his book,
having dedicated it to his grandchildren, who “will soon benefit from a new,
high-value, and universal health-care system.”
Daschle’s Associates
The co-authors of the
Daschle book were Scott S. Greenburger, a former
reporter for the Boston Globe now working for the Ricchetti
lobbying firm, and Jeanne Lambrew, who also worked at
CAP. Ricchetti’s clients
include several in the health care field, while Lambrew
has been chosen as Deputy Director of the Obama White
House Office of Health Reform.
During the Obama-Biden Transition period, Daschle was head of the Health
Care Policy Working Group and Lambrew was a member of
the group. Other members
of the group were Lauren Aronson, Jenny Backus, Jonathan Blum, Jennifer Cannistra, Mark Childress, David Cutler, Elizabeth Engel,
Dora Hughes, Terrell McSweeny, and Rahul Rajkumar.
While some of these
individuals are considered knowledgeable, the use of the Federal Reserve as a
model for health care “reform” obviously raises doubts about the judgment of
Daschle and his associates, and of Obama in picking
him.
Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org. This is an excerpt of one of his columns, which can be read in its entirety here.
