Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. President. Now let me set the record straight. Republicans have never said no to Dr. Berwick. We have never blocked a vote on Dr. Berwick. There has never been a vote called on Dr. Berwick. In fact, there has never even been a hearing on Dr. Berwick. Republicans have not stopped his nomination. It is true there hasn't been a permanent director of the agency that Dr. Berwick will now head since 2006. When Barack Obama became President on January 20, he could have corrected that problem. But I suspect the reason he didn't nominate anyone to head CMS during the debate on the health care bill is because if Dr. Berwick was his nominee, the last thing the President wanted was a discussion of Dr. Berwick's views on health care. His views are antithetical to the views of the majority of the American people, supporting rationing, as he does, and his love affair with the British single payer system, as he has described it. This is not something the American people would have countenanced. So Barack Obama, the President, rather than filling the position, decided to hold off on nominating a person to head CMS until after the health care debate was over. Now, this is bait and switch. This is not the transparency that Barack Obama promised when he campaigned for the job of President. Instead, in my view, it is hiding the ball: Let's get health care passed, not tell anybody we are going to nominate Dr.…”