Kabuki Theater: Sebelius Confirmed for HHS
Poof! Sebelius is now the head of HHS! In a 65-31 vote by congress, another “crisis,” the swine flu, was used as smoke and mirrors and a reason to rush her confirmation.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won Senate confirmation Tuesday as the nation’s health and human services secretary, thrusting her into the middle of a public health emergency with the swine flu sickening dozens of Americans.
The 65-31 confirmation vote came after Democrats urged quick action so that Sebelius could get to work leading the federal response to the flu outbreak.
There they go again… Democrats calling for quick action – where have we heard that before? The stimulus package? How is that working out for you America?
“We find ourselves in the midst of a global crisis,” said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. “What we’ve been missing in all of this is the head of the Health and Human Services Department.”
And we should really take what corruptocrat Chris Dodd says seriously!?
Sixty votes in the 100-seat Senate were necessary for approval. Immediately after the vote Sebelius resigned as governor in Kansas and headed to Washington to be sworn in. She drove directly from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland to the White House, where she took her oath in the Oval Office.
“We wanted to swear her in right away because we’ve got a significant public health challenge that requires her immediate attention,” Obama said, standing beside the last Cabinet official to win Senate approval.
“We need all hands on deck,” he said. “I expect her to hit the ground running,”
Sebelius immediately went to the White House’s Situation Room for a briefing with Obama’s homeland security adviser, John Brennan, and other officials dealing with the first domestic test of the administration, which turns 100 days old on Wednesday.
Sebelius, 60, a two-term Democrat, was the first of 20 HHS officials requiring Senate approval to win it, and she heads to work with many team members missing. The Senate hasn’t acted on Obama’s nominees for deputy HHS secretary or commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Obama hasn’t even nominated people for other key jobs, including surgeon general and assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
There’s also not been an appointment for head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another component of the sprawling HHS, which has 65,000 employees and a $750 billion budget.
Don’t most executives or bosses that have leadership skills, line up qualified, intelligent, ethical individuals for necessary and significant jobs? I forgot who I was talking about for a second though, the man only ever had 143 days in the senate and has never so much as run a lemonade stand.
The whole process suffered a setback when Obama’s first pick for HHS secretary, former Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, withdrew in February over unpaid taxes.
Let’s not forget that Sebelius also had tax problems and shady contributions from pro abortion doctors.
Though the swine flu will be an immediate focus, Sebelius will also be charged with shepherding Obama’s overhaul of the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system to reduce costs and cover some 50 million uninsured Americans.
This will be called the reach around bill – just don’t drop the the soap!
Sebelius, Yet Another Obama Nom With Tax Issues
President Obama’s current nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary, is under fire for unpaid taxes.
In a letter to the Senate, Gov Sebelius explains that the $7,000 plus “oversight” was due to business and other personal transactions.
The point here, is these are supposed law makers, and most of whom are independently wealthy (to some extent) who pay tax lawyers to keep their taxes on track (or so it would seem). To us, what this hi-lights is that these nominees have all either been ripped off by these tax accountants or they all think they can shave off tax money owed to the IRS. Since it such a prevalent problem among many of Obama’s nominations, it would seem the latter would be a good choice.
It is of particular interest because these are the very same income brackets that President Obama wished to raise the tax rates on. So then we must start to wonder what tax loopholes will the Democrats put into the the tax code to protect themselves.
It does not bode well that the Tax and Spend administrations major nominations are less than honest on their personal taxes when they sure want to spend our tax dollars into oblivion.
After news broke Tuesday of Sebelius’ letter admitting the errors, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., quickly issued a statement supporting her nomination.
“Congress is going to need a strong partner at the Department of Health and Human Services to achieve comprehensive health reform this year, and we have that partner in Gov. Sebelius,” Baucus said. “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Gov. Sebelius has the political experience, determination, and bipartisan work ethic to get the job done with Congress this year. She’s the right person for the job.”
In other words, despite all of these tax issues, she is going to sail through confirmation in the Senate. There will be no Democrat opposition to this nomination.
Another major issue with Gov Sebelius, is that she is a staunch Pro-Choice supporter. In the interim run up to Senate hearings she signed a feel good bill in the wake of Dr Death’s acquittal two weeks ago.
The bill requires abortion providers to offer women seeking abortions the option of viewing an ultrasound and listening to a fetal heartbeat monitor.
Well there is a bill with some teeth. Yes you can choose to have a picture and listen to the sound, if you so desire.
Sebelius in the past has vetoed antiabortion-rights legislation. Beth Martino, a spokesperson for Sebelius, said the governor signed the bill because it included no constitutional flaws and did not jeopardize patient privacy or block access to health services (AP/Los Angeles Times, 3/28). By signing the bill, Sebelius — who is expected to begin U.S. Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday — “steered clear of one final showdown with anti-abortion lawmakers as she exits Kansas politics,” the Star reports.
She signed the bill because it did nothing to strengthen pro-life positions, of which she is staunchly opposed to. This was simply a feel good measure designed to provide some smoke and mirrors for the Senate confirmation hearings. To me this is a bigger issue than the taxes. She is an liberal who allows partial birth abortions to take place in her state and did nothing about it. In what turned out to be a joke trial over partial birth practices in her state, it only makes you wonder what protection she will offer the unborn.
