Wadhams’ candidate in Nevada embraces disgraced Sen. Ensign

Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams has been dabbling in the early-stages of the Nevada race to unseat vulnerable U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Wadhams’ candidate of choice, Nevada GOP Chair Sue Lowden, is already leading Reid in polls…

Palin can kiss goodbye that chance at an Obama Cabinet appointment

Not that she was likely on any short lists for any remaining, unfilled Cabinet positions in an Obama administration, but a ruling this week that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin must pay back taxes on nearly $17,000 in per-diem payments won’t help.

The Anchorage Daily News reports the governor is staying mum on how much Palin might owe the Internal Revenue Service after billing the state for meals and incidental expenses while living in her own home.

New pack of DC lobbyists keep Oval Office doors spinning

Not even three weeks in office and President Barack Obama is discovering that being in charge is no bed of roses, even when you have a garden of them just outside your Oval Office windows. February’s frost has bitten a bit of the bloom off the new President’s aspirations as the swamp of hypocrisy and partisan inertia that is Beltway Washington took its toll.

Czar 44, where are you? Ethics trumps loyalty for Obama in health czar hunt

Hilzoy of the href="http://healthcare.newsladder.net/submissions/comments/R6nt0mYa">Washington Monthly thinks she sees a silver lining to this dark Daschle cloud: Obama was willing to sacrifice Daschle, a mentor and personal friend whom Obama had handpicked for two of the most important jobs in his
administration, someone he had every personal and political reason to want by his side. Maybe Obama really is serious about raising ethical standards in Washington?

Daschle withdraws as HHS head; ‘meaningful health reform’ up in air

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle — who kicked off the Obama administration’s campaign to “bring meaningful health reform” to all Americans at a conference in Denver two months ago — withdrew as the nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tuesday afternoon as criticism mounted over his late payment of more than $140,000 in back taxes and interest. Daschle stepped down less than 24 hours after delivering a plaintive apology and winning a ringing endorsement from President Barack Obama, who said Monday night he was “absolutely” standing by his choice to head HHS and steer a massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Obama taps Daschle to lead health care reform

It’s official. On Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama announced that former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who kicked off the new administration’s drive for health care reform at an appearance in Denver last week, will be his nominee as secretary of health and human services. Calling Daschle “one of America’s foremost health care experts,” Obama said he was confident the former Senate majority leader had the chops to “bridge partisan divides” to enact widespread health care reform and implement the changes once the legislation has passed.

Is the era of Dick Wadhams’ ‘thug politics’ over?

On Friday, Sen. Tom Daschle was in Denver to talk of the paralyzing effects of a failed health care system. Among the realities: “One half of all bankruptcies, one half of all home foreclosures are related to medical costs.” Daschle’s appearance was a reminder of the sharp-tongued Dick Wadhams, who made his name known on the national stage by unseating the former Senate Minority Leader from South Dakota, employing, among other things, nasty name-calling. Sound familiar?

Text of Sen. Tom Daschle’s remarks at the Colorado Health Summit

Remarks of Transition Health Policy Team Leader Tom Daschle
Colorado Health Summit – hosted by Senator Ken Salazar
Friday, December 5, 2008

Denver, Colorado

Thank you very much, Ken, for that wonderful introduction and thank you all for

…

Daschle pledges ‘meaningful health reform to people all over this country’

Pledging to avoid past mistakes that resulted in failed efforts at fixing the nation’s health care system, former Sen. Tom Daschle kicked off the Obama administration’s drive to “bring meaningful health reform” to all Americans at a conference in Denver on Friday. “The economic health of this country is directly related to our ability to reform our health care system,” he said, unveiling plans to involve ordinary Americans in community discussions about how best to repair the system. “I believe for the first time in American history, health care reform will be done.”

Daschle in Denver to outline Obama health care reform plan

Overhauling the monstrously complex health care system was a central promise of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on the campaign stump. Now, the president-elect is expected to deliver amidst a growing financial crisis and economic bailout approaching a trillion dollars.

Former Sen. Tom Daschle, expected to be tapped to head Health and Human Services, will make the incoming administration’s first major health policy speech in Denver this morning as the keynote speaker at the Colorado Health Summit sponsored by Sen. Ken Salazar.