Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Ron Wyden for HHS? No.

All of a sudden, Ron Wyden is being one of the most buzzed bout names to follow up on the epic-tax-fail nomination of Tom Daschle (who we aren't all that busted up about, since he's BigPharma's überlobbyist anyhow.

For the record, I'm excited when anything Oregon goes celebrity. We don't get our fair share of respect from everyone else; for the fashionable West Coast states, we're like the ginger-haired little sister.

But Bob Laszewski, who's apparently a respected player in health-care policy back in the land of the Great White Father, is all of a sudden Wyden's biggest fan. And people are paying attention.

I've got to say, I completely agree with his idea. He has Wyden's number, and no mistake. This post is so dead-on-correct that we nearly weep with joy.

We also don't like the idea of Wyden leaving his Senate seat. Oregon finally has two smart, strong, pricincpled, liberal Democrats as Senators. Wyden in particular has been there for us all along. During the campaign, all we heard about Gordon Smith was how smart and experienced he was. Well, if experience is important, then we need Ron Wyden to stay right where he is.

If you're going to be famous, being famous for being Oregon's long-time Senator isn't a bad gig. And I expect him and Jeff Merkley to fit like hand-in-glove together.

No, a better idea would be John Kitzhaber, the other buzzed-about name. Doctor John, we need you to the emergency room, stat.

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