Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Politics / Woods Would Bredesen Want HHS Job If It's Offered?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 8:02 AM
The governor is revving up his PR machine to lobby for the HHS position. But lost in all the hubbub is this question: Would he want the job if the president offered it? He has stated repeatedly that he wants to lead President Obama's health-care reform initiatives, not merely run the giant HHS bureaucracy:
"If it were a case of really being able to help in some fundamental way, something I really believe in which is to create universal health care, I certainly would think about it and talk about it. If it's a matter of administering a big, huge bureaucracy, I've already got that job."But the White House has never publicly said the job would be the same as the one fashioned by Tom Daschle before he withdrew his nomination. The Washington Times points out this morning, in fact, that while Bredesen and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius are at the top of the list for HHS, the president "reportedly also is looking at Capitol Hill for candidates for health care czar. Names mentioned most frequently are Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, who, as Senate Finance Committee chairman is a key player in drafting health care legislation, and Democratic Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat and a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees HHS spending, also has been mentioned."
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