You know, I really like Claire McCaskill–a heck of a lot more than I like Tweety.
But when you watch the way her jaw sets as Tweety keeps mentioning the reasons why Dean would be a natural choice for HHS: his work blazing the way for Obama and people like McCaskill herself, his medical background, I gotta say I’m with Tweety on this one.
Why not Howard Dean?
From today’s press briefing (via email):
Q That doesn’t say who decided that this was the best move. And if I could just follow up quickly. Are there other nominees out there with tax problems that we don’t know about?
MR. GIBBS: The President is quite confident in the people that serve in this White House and serve in this administration; that we’ve put a standard of ethics and accountability that’s unseen and unmatched by any previous administration in our country’s history.
Again, Senator Daschle — as it relates to your first question, Senator Daschle decided to remove his name from consideration and remove his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Q What about —
Q Robert, a question —
MR. GIBBS: I’m sorry —
Q Are there other nominees with tax problems?
MR. GIBBS: The President is confident in the people he’s chosen to serve in government.
Well, I guess Woodward had himself a little scoop, huh? Who knew I was the only one out here who actually paid my taxes. Do you guys pay your taxes? Any of you want to be a Cabinet Secretary?
As Jane has reported, Tom Daschle has withdrawn from consideration to be HHS Secretary.
Which leaves a spot open for someone who has thought a lot about how to get Americans health care and a proven leader.
How about Howard Dean?
If you’re interested, there’s a Facebook group where you can show your support for Dean for HHS.
I can’t imagine Rahm would ever let this happen. But then, the whole appointment process under Rahm hasn’t been operating so smoothly now, has it?
Nancy Killefer just withdrew her nomination to be OMB’s Chief Performance Officer because of tax problems. That makes three top Obama appointees–Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle, and Killefer–who seem to be discovering tax problems rather late in the game.
But of course, someone had already discovered these problems at least ten days ago–or that’s what I assume from this Woodward clip from January 25. At that point, Woodward (in his inimitable "I used to be a journalist but now I’m just the world’s best paid gossip" way) was already predicting we’d see more tax problems beyond Geithner (and, of course, we’re still waiting for the nannies).
So who told Woodard? Does he have a mole in the Obama vetting process? Why would Obama’s vetters pick Woodward, of all people?
Or is Woodward getting this stuff from somewhere else, perhaps from some of his crack (ha!) sources in the Bush White House?