The Oregonian is reporting that Senator Ron Wyden (D) is a candidate to be the next HHS Secretary. I’ll discuss the rumors, who Wyden is and what this would mean for the US Senate if he were to be nominated.
Cross-Posted from Loaded Orygun: http://www.loadedorygun.net/sh…
Link to the story: Wyden gains traction as possible health secretary
Key Quote:
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is emerging as a potential candidate to become health and human services secretary after former Sen. Tom Daschle abruptly withdrew because of controversy over unpaid taxes.
Wyden’s name is one of several prominently mentioned in Washington, D.C., health-policy circles and in news stories and blogs. Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s name also surfaced, but several Washington health care observers said they doubt he would receive serious consideration.
So who is Ron Wyden?:
Birth Date: 05/03/1949
Birthplace: Wichita, KS
Home City: Portland, OR
Religion: Jewish
Party: Democratic.
Elective History:
Representative, United States House of Representatives, District 3, 1980-1996, defeating an incumbent in the seat now held by Earl Blumenauer.
Senator, United States Senate, 1996-present, winning a special election over former Senator Gordon Smith to replace the disgraced Senator Bob Packwood (R). He has not been challenged since.
Wyden’s Healthy Americans Plan:
Quoting from Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2160834
Quote:
Under Wyden’s plan, employers would no longer provide health coverage, as they have since World War II. Instead, they’d convert the current cost of coverage into additional salary for employees. Individuals would use this money to buy insurance, which they would be required to have.
Private insurance plans would compete on features and price but would have to offer benefits at least equivalent to the Blue Cross “standard” option. Signing up for insurance would be as easy as ticking off a box on your tax return. In most cases, insurance premiums would be withheld from paychecks, as they are now.
Eliminating employers as an additional payer would encourage consumers to use health care more efficiently. Getting rid of the employer tax deduction, which costs a whopping $200 billion a year, would free up funds to subsidize insurance up to 400 percent of the poverty line, which is $82,000 for a family of four.
The Lewin Group, an independent consulting firm, has estimated that Wyden’s plan would reduce overall national spending on health care by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years and that it would save the government money through great administrative efficiency and competition.
Replacing Wyden:
Under Oregon law, a special election would be held to replace Wyden within 91 days (the law says “soon as practicable so it may be backed up to the May Primary”). Here is how I think it would stack up:
Republican Possibles:
Former Senator Gordon Smith would be by far the strongest possible candidate.
Rep. Greg Walden would be a likely choice but would be quite weak.
Allen Alley, who lost in his run for treasurer, would also be possible.
Democratic Possibles:
US Rep. Earl Blumeanuer would be a very strong pick and would certainly be favored statewide.
US Rep. Peter DeFazio would also be a very strong choice for us and would likely clear the field as well.
Losing Senate candidate Steve Novick would be a strong third possibility.
Overall I think we would clearly have the edge in any special election.
Let me know what you think.
Fire away!
so I was against it (no telling who Kulongowski appoints), but if it’s a special, should be a cakewalk for one of the congressmen.
Still, Wyden is very valuable in the Senate and the state could use his seniority. There are plenty of ex-politicians Obama should consider for HHS.
Like Dean.
Either he or Wyden would be fine by me.
Bill Bradly. Wyden is too attached to his plan and I’d rather not open up another seat.
We could get Super Dave Osborne (Bob Einstein) for HHS since he looks just like Wyden. Coompare the pics and tell me I’m wrong.
http://www.bobeinstein.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W…
I can’t really see any clear reason why Wyden would be a superior pick to Kitzhaber. All picking Wyden’s appointment would do would take up resources in a Senate race, since Wyden’s plan in no way needs him to run HHS.
Whereas Kitzhaber is first and foremost a healthcare guy.
Is he too independent? Not Washington enough? Ethical concerns? Do the anonymous sources the article used favour the drab?
W’s cabinet picks opened up no House or Senate seats for the Republicans and two Governor’s slots (filled by sitting Lt. Govs). We already started with two Senate seats for the President and Vice President. This was a tight race in 2008 and Obama and the Democrats need every Senate vote. Salazar, Clinton, Solis, Napolitano (AZ gov switches to Tepublican). Too much already.
We need every vote in the Senate for every day. Good man, poor choice.
President Obama (never gets old typing that) wants somebody who knows the personalities in the United States Senate. This is why he would look at a guy like Wyden who has enough free market rhetoric and reality in his health care plan to get a Republican like Bob Bennett to sign on.
This is also why Obama wanted Daschle at HHS so he could handle all the demands and the partisan debate up on the Hill.
I mentioned this in another thread, but it seems like a lot of states are getting very very “junior” senators:
– Virginia has had Jim Webb for two years, and he’ll now be the senior senator to Mark Warner.
– Colorado had Mark Udall for about two weeks, and now he’s senior senator to Michael Bennet.
– New Hampshire will have had Jeanne Shaheen for a few weeks before she becomes senior senator to Bonnie Newman.
– Minnesota has had Amy Klobuchar for two years, and she’ll likely become the senior senator to Al Franken.
– Ohio will have had Sherrod Brown for four years once Voinovich’s replacement is elected, and the same goes for Missouri, Claire McCaskill, and Bond. And something similar will happen to Alaska, Mark Begich (two years); Pennsylvania, Bob Casey Jr. (four years), and Specter; and Murkowski, as well as North Carolina, Kay Hagan (two years), and Burr if Murkowski and Burr are unseated.
Naming Ron Wyden to the cabinet puts the recently-elected Jeff Merkley in the senior senator spot from his state.
First, is it normal to have this much turnover between three cycles? Second, is it good or bad for the states?
Apparently Tennessee Governor Bredeson is being considered. I really hope this is a joke because he’d be almost as bad as picking someone like Newt Gingrich for the job. The man literally destroyed healthcare in Tennessee.