Daschle: Health Reform About Facts, Not Ideology

Barack Obama’s pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services promised today a bipartisan effort to reform health care, the New York Times reports. “When it comes to health care, we really are in it together,” Tom Daschle said during Senate confirmation hearings, where chairman Ted Kennedy praised the former South Dakota Democratic senator as “just the person for the job.”

Although Daschle has allies from both parties, and his confirmation is expected to sail through Congress, the Obama administration’s plan to establish a public health insurance program has drawn fire from Republicans. But former GOP Sen. Bob Dole, who introduced Daschle to the health committee, insisted that “the time has come for real, constructive bipartisan action on health care.” (More health care stories.)