Likely Obama Adviser: Health Care Reform Central To Fixing Economy
Here's still more great news for those who are hoping that Barack Obama will act quickly and decisively on health care reform: The guy who's widely expected to be Obama's chief budget official says that such reform is central to repairing the economic mess.
Peter Orszag, the apparent front-runner for the post of head of the Office of Management an Budget, is currently the head of the Congressional Budget Office. And he says health care costs are a problem that's directly linked to our economic woes.
"Although it may not seem immediately relevant given our current difficulties," Orszag says in a post on his blog, "it will be crucial to address the nation's looming fiscal gap -- which is driven primarily by rising health care costs -- as the economy eventually recovers from this current downturn."
Read his whole post to get his full argument, but here's why this is key. As Ezra Klein notes, the budget chief is in a key position with regard to health care, because he's one of the president's top advisers and helps set the administration's fiscal priorities. And the guy expected to get the job says that rather than displacing health care reform as a priority, the financial mess puts health care front and center as a problem.
Health care reform advocates have privately indicated to me that one thing they're all watching for very closely is a sign that the Obama administration views things in these terms -- that they see reform as central to fixing the economy over the long term. Now they've got such a sign.
I really hope they do it, and don't let the Republicans make them water it down, because if we can pull off universal health care, the Republican Party is over, and they know it:
http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/11/universal-health-care-game-over-for-gop.html
November 24, 2008 9:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
yeah. didn't kristol say as much in a memo when they were trying to sink Hillarycare?
November 24, 2008 9:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Greg,
I wanted to point out that I blogged about Orszag's nomination and its implications for healthcare reform (including a link to the same blog post) last Wednesday, a post that sparked an interesting exchange with Lux Umbra Dei.
That's not intended as a request for credit, much less as a criticism of your blog post, which is itself excellent. If there's anything the past 48 hours have made clear around here, it's that TPM staff can't possibly be expected to keep tabs on every thread in this bustling cafe. But - and I suspect I'm not alone - I sometimes have the frustrating suspicion that the staff-written sections of this site exist in an entirely different universe than the user-contributed content. That's a shame, because TPM's reader community is among its great strengths, The rebuilt Cafe contains myriad tools that were supposed to elevate noteworthy posts to the attention of even casual readers. When it seems that TPM's own staff gains little from user-contributed content, I'm left to wonder how effective those tools actually are, and how viable the Cafe's model might be.
November 24, 2008 12:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Glad you flagged these, Fly!
November 24, 2008 7:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sometimes calling the opposition "obstructionists" doesn't work, but this time around I think it would work for Obama. I remember reading when Bush was going back for tax cuts for the wealthy, a lot of the CEOs were saying that they didn't need anymore tax cuts for themselves, what they needed was for the health care system to be fixed. They knew that their companies would make a lot more money, so that even with slightly higher taxes, they would come out better off in the end because what was being taxed would much higher.
November 24, 2008 10:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
You can't just CALL people obstructionists. You have to SHOW it. That means making Senate Republicans actually filibuster, instead of the recent Democratic practice of just caving when they lose a vote to cut off debate.
Basically, instead of making Republicans filibuster, they just accept the fact that Republicans COULD filibuster, if they really wanted to. So the Democrats give up without a fight. It's a win/win for the GOP, because they can stop legislation cold without really doing anything. And it never gets any publicity - especially not with the dreaded 'filibuster' word that Republicans traditionally used against Democrats - because no one ever has to filibuster.
Given past performance, I very much doubt that Democrats have the guts to force ANYTHING in the Senate. But if they'd actually make the Republicans filibuster - and continue it until it got some serious press attention - then yes, the public would object to that obstructionism during an economic crisis. But what do you want to bet that the Senate Democratic leadership will actually do this? My bet is that they'll cave, as usual.
November 24, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was sitting in a breakfast joint in Alexandria Sunday morning and glanced out the window at the newspaper stands.
The Washington Post had some articles about economy I believe.
The Washington Times had a huge front center article on how Obama is not going to address removing don't ask, don't tell right away, as if this were one of issues he was going to champion right out of the gate.
I notice a pattern of right wingers systematically bringing issues front and center, as if they are the BIG issue of the day. It is a coordinated effort to undermine the popularity and political capital Obama has now.
My guess is they are trying to make everyone aware of this and other issues such as the Fairness Doctrine which is another issue they are trying to get everyone talking about in the hopes they can stir up a backlash to Obama. They wish to put a halt to the momentum on all the other big items Obama is attempting to get passed such as health care, tax cuts and energy policy similar to how Clinton stalled on the don't ask, don't tell policy.
November 24, 2008 10:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
The wingers are trying to play by the 92 playbook and derail obama before he gets started. I don't foresee that happening. Sorry, sfc wallace. Obama's too smart to get sucked into culture wars.
November 24, 2008 10:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the majority of Americans are too smart these days to get suckered into a cultural war when the economy is tettering on collapse. And I would include a growing number of the MSM, who the Repubs will need to carry their message on a strong consistent basis in order for it to be even remotely a possible detriment to Obama.
November 24, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama has the highest approval ratings of a president elect since it was ever graphed. 75% of the American people think he will be a good or great President. Repubs see the writing on the walla and they are trying to thrwo anything "DADT, Fairness Doctrine,Center-right" to try to bring Obama down a notch. Obama has more political capital then anyone in recent memory, and it looks like he will be aggressive in spending it.
November 24, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
It really is refreshing to have intelligent people running the government in the near future. Healthcare is central to resolving our economic difficulties. We are the only western country that has a huge healthcare "tax" fixed into our products sold domestically and for export. Healthcare reform will immediately make us more competitive internationally and will be a boon to ailing industries, such as the auto industry. It should be priority number one, which it appears that it is.
November 24, 2008 10:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
And it's refreshing to see that sane policy trumps ideology this time around.
Michael, I so appreciate your thinking! Here and elsewhere.
November 24, 2008 10:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with you as always. I also appreciate your thinking as well. Thanks.
November 24, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
This health care as slippery slope for the Red Menace has been going on since the reactionary right trashed Harry Truman's bold attempt at national health care.
Time to cut this krapp out and get on with it. I especially like the idea that every citizen gets the same package as Senate and House members,,,, and I presume, the rest of Federal workers. Perhaps we now have people in charge who notice the irony that folks without health insurance are taxed to provide a fine programme for office holders and fed emloyees.
End of rant.
November 24, 2008 10:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
I believe they get a choice of plans. And frankly, I would like to learn more!
November 24, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
We have to deal with the critical shortage of Primary Care doctors in this country. We can talk all we want about providing Universal Healthcare, but what good is that if people are receiving substandard care?
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/triage/2008/11/a-crisis-in-pri.html
November 24, 2008 10:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
My personal solution to that is that the govt should subsidize medical education on the one hand and that the fee structure needs to change. Unfair for surgeons to get paid, for example, maybe 100 times more per hour (I'm making that up but it's a big multiple!) than primary care docs. The system needs to be set up to reward time spent with a patient... trying to really learn what's wrong.
We could utilize Physician Assistants more as well as Nurse Practitioners. A triage system could be set up whereby most routine things are done by the lower level practitioners and referral to the Doc for more problematic things.
We'd all need to make do with less for a while, so the sum total of everyone can have more.
November 24, 2008 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
That sounds good. I really don't know that much about it, I just get annoyed when people talk about a thing like "universal healthcare" but never even breach the subject of the primary care shortage....before we add another 45 million to the rolls!
November 24, 2008 1:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
We are not really adding 45 million to the system, they are already in the system just getting super expensive emergency room care, or letting small problems turn into big problems because they are desperate to NOT see a doctor for any reason. Americans pay nearly double what all other systems cost PER/CAPITA because of the huge profits and waste built into this mess.
Universal care would dramatically lower PER/CAPITA costs and be a huge economic boost to America just when we need it most. This is such a no-brainer to me I cannot believe it isn't under the most serious consideration. Now is the time to get it DONE!
November 24, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agree 1000%, plus the american healthcare system subsidizes the pharmaceutical industry for the benefit of the rest of the world. This has to stop as well. With universal care and a modicum of regulation and oversight and getting rid of health insurance, the costs to the economy will go down dramatically. The infrastructure is already in place with medicare. It really is a total no-brainer.
November 24, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sounds like a revival meeting! Amen to it all!
November 24, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
No insurance and inadequate insurance, and in this part of the country Medicade providers are hard to find, and Medicare ones are almost as hard to find, is one part of the puzzle to be fixed.
That will so some way in making it possible to give Primary Card providers a chance to stay in business, as well as go into business in the first place.
The Health Care Industry itself will have to work on changing its corporate culture so as to respect and reward Primary Care professions with the collegiality appropriate to their calling. Government can provide carrots and sticks in that reguard as well. Likewise bringing in advisors from Cuba and China for consultations on how to do it might not be totally off the wall.
November 24, 2008 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm part of the health care industry in this fine country, and I recognize the need for reform.
But, why, in these perilous times, is no one talking about the $650 billion we spend each year on unneeded military expenditures? This dwarfs what we spend on health care, but no one is talking about the Pentagon budget as crucial to fixing the economy.
At least health care expenditures act as an investment in the future (increased jobs, productivity) as compared to Missile Defense, submarine and bomber aircraft boondoggles, and generally spending a fortune to blow shit up.
I just don't get our priorities. If we are going to cut the health care economy, we need to address our military waste, as well.
November 24, 2008 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
I posted a long comment on this last week. And I'll repost part of it here, since it addresses exactly what you're saying:
November 24, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink