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Daschle: Insurers Can Talk to Rush—Or Me

Says Dems need to 'do better' at selling health care reform

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 30, 2009 9:42 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Why is Tom Daschle taking money to advise an insurer that’s against the creation of a public health care option—a measure he supports? Pish-posh, the former Senate majority leader tells Deborah Solomon in the New York Times. Who would doubters on the left “advise these insurance companies talk to? They can talk to Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin or they can talk to me,” he tells the New York Times Magazine in its weekly Q&A.

Asked about President Obama’s performance selling health care reform, Daschle, who dropped out as health secretary-designate amid word he owed $140,000 in back taxes,  says, “We have to do better at making this issue a moral imperative. This in many respects is the civil rights battle of the early part of this century ... it’s a fight for equal rights when it comes to health.”

In this Feb. 2, 2009 file photo, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this Feb. 2, 2009 file photo, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Former Sen. Tom Daschle speaks to the media after a closed session meeting with the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, in Washington.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle speaks to the media after a closed session meeting with the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
In this Jan. 8, 2009 file photo, then-Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle, right, smiles as he prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington.
In this Jan. 8, 2009 file photo, then-Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Tom Daschle, right, smiles as he prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 28 comments
cornelison
Aug 31, 2009 5:45 AM CDT
The waiting is over. Think about a family of 4 and how much money they are spending on health insurance. If you had affordable health care think of the leftover money. It's the money that can be spent on debt or in the marketplace. Now THAT is a capitalistic stimulus plan.
cornelison
Aug 31, 2009 5:40 AM CDT
The GOP doesn't want to debate or talk about health care. Their part of the debates are over. They only vote, "No." They're waiting for 2010 & 2012 while sick & dying people have no affordable health care. They don't care about people - period.
cornelison
Aug 31, 2009 5:35 AM CDT
It's, "We the people." It's about using your collective power to make sure that everyone is protected with a health care plan. At the end of the national anthem it's about, "land of the free and home of the brave." I see nothing brave about the cruelty displayed in the conservative media.

 
Democrats • politics • Glenn Beck • health care reform • health secretary • Tom Daschle • Sarah Palin • interview • President Obama

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