HHS Secretary: Who's In, Out

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Feb 5 2009, 11:00 am by Marc Ambinder

In: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Gov. John Kitzhaber (D-OR), Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-TN), Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS). Out: John Podesta, Mitt Romney. Bredesen, I am told by a good source, is a serious prospect; not sure about Harkin or Kitzhaber. A key Democrat who works with the White House on health care is worried about Bredesen, e-mailing me last night that he "does not share the President's principles" on health care. Here's some background on that.

Comments (6)

Stephen February 5, 2009 11:35 AM

I saw this on google news late last night.

Kitzhaber Says He's Not Interested In Cabinet Post
http://news.opb.org/article/4203-kitzhaber-say-hes-not-interested-cabinet-post/

NYC_Charles February 5, 2009 12:09 PM

I'd love it if Sebelius were picked - she did some great work as Kansas Insurance Commissioner fighting the big insurance companies. But I'm not sure if she wants a cabinet slot - there are a lot of rumors about her maybe running for Senate in 2010.

bookninja February 5, 2009 3:26 PM

Bredesen is a terrible choice. Like many TN Dems he has no coattails in terms of bringing Tennesseans towards any position. He dismantled TennCare flinging 200,000 people off insurance. Many of them had preexisting conditions which make it impossible to get health care. Bredesen is a former HMO executive, who dismantled his state's insurance (losing $800 million in matching federal funds) virtually assuring death to many of those left off the rolls in order to avoid increasing taxes (TN has a very regressive sales tax and no state income tax). He is also arrogant and unaware of how ridiculous he seems in all fora.

A potted plant would do a better job ushering universal coverage.

mltaylor13.1 February 5, 2009 9:33 PM

Just say no to Gov. Bredesen. He barely supported President Obama in the primaries and didn't endorse until late last summer. He stood by and watched as the GOP took control of the General Assembly (House and Senate) for the first time since Reconstruction. All he did as mayor of Metropolitan Nashville was build monuments to himself at taxpayer expense and as governor, his most notable achievement other than the dismantling of TennCare - which left tens of thousands of Tennesseans without health care was to build an underground bunker/party room while threatening to layoff state employees and relax civil service rules.

Bookninja is correct, a potted plant would be a much better job than Gov. Bredesen.

William J February 7, 2009 9:50 PM

Considering Bredesen for HHS Secretary would be like considering Bin Laden for Homeland Security Secretary. He is not a manager, he is a slasher, and will step on anyone getting in his way.

He won all 95 Tennessee Counties in the 2006 election with Republicans overwhelmingly voting for him. He is a Democrat in disguise; the bottom line is his only goal.

levitatingdonkey February 9, 2009 4:00 PM

The thought of Bredesen as HHS secretary makes me shudder. As a Tennessean, I've seen the disaster he has been for health care in the state... Remember, this is a man who bats around terms like "socialism" when referring to medicare. Obama might as well appoint Palin for secretary of HHS.

Below is a quote from one of Bredesen's earlier speeches...

"The way in which Medicaid pays for services-put a lot of money in a bucket, and providers and beneficiaries take out what and when they want, and demand more when the pot is empty - the way in which Medicaid pays for services has more in common with a socialist economy than the common sense economic and business principles that do such a good job in allocating resources efficiently in other parts of our American life."

From http://www.tennesseeanytime.org/governor/viewArticleContent.do?id=339&page=0