Several important positions in Congress and in Obama’s cabinet are being filled, and the trend is not good for anyone thinking the next government will be a centrist one. Tom Daschle has been tapped as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and his appointment has Democrats talking again about nationalizing health care.
Daschle’s HHS appointment indicates that my previous predictions for health care policy under the Obama administration are all the more likely. Daschle wrote a book earlier this year in which he advocated advancing and consolidating Federal regulation of the health care industry. Interestingly, Barack Obama blurbed the book (see the reviews in the link above). That Obama appointed Daschle as HHS Secretary suggests that he knew full well what Daschle was advocating in his book, just like he knew full what what Bill Ayers was about when he endorsed Ayers’ book. Daschle was also a champion of Hillary Care in the 90s.
On the issues, Daschle is a supporter of expanding federal insurance programs, drug reimportation (which is dangerous for safety issues, and a disincentive for American pharmaceutical innovation), and he has opposed the tax deductibility of Medical Savings Accounts. Remember how I warned about losing HSA tax savings? Daschle also supports government negotiation of prices with pharmaceutical companies, which is a hypocritical stance of many liberals: when HMOs make those decisions, they’re selfish corporations; when government does the same thing, no one seems to complain.
In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, there is a fight between Democrats Henry Waxman (CA) and John Dingell (MI) for chairman, which Dingell currently holds. The Democrat Steering and Policy Committee has endorsed Waxman, but all House Democrats will decide Thursday. This struggle is representative of the party, which has support from both blue collar union workers and hard left environmentalists. The article sums up the struggle between the two men and the camps they represent:
The starkest difference between the men may concern so-called greenhouse gases, which trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Mr. Waxman favors stricter and faster regulation of such emissions than Mr. Dingell, who has been one of the auto industry’s staunchest allies in Congress. His ouster from the chairmanship would be a major setback for Detroit’s auto makers at a time when they are seeking assistance from Washington.
As has been noted, the environmentalists and the auto industry cannot both win under an Obama presidency. Major environmental reform will further cripple the auto industry and many others in manufacturing.
That Obama has been silent on the prospect of bailing out the auto industry and whether or not he’ll support union card check or higher fuel taxes suggests that he wants to do all of it, but wants to avoid public backlash. It will be worth watching to see who gets the short end of the stick in the Democrat party. Either way, expect most of the Democrat agenda to be pushed, despite Obama’s promise to govern from the center.
UPDATE: Waxman was voted in over Dingell, 137-122, showing how divided House Democrats were. Waxman is expected to push for climate change legislation, which probably will not help the auto industry.
UPDATE 2: Apparently House Democrats used the secret ballet for the Waxman/Dingell vote, which is probably why I couldn’t find the exact roll call. This is the secret ballet the unions want to pass for the workplace.
