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Friday, July 16, 2010

Mikulski Says Senators Will Question Berwick At 'Confirmation Hearings'--Despite His Recess Appointment

Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said Wednesday that senators will ask Dr. Donald Berwick whether he intends to follow the recently enacted health-care law as "we go through the confirmation hearings" for him.

Berwick, in fact, never had a confirmation hearing in the Senate Finance Committee, which had oversight over his nomination to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. President Barack Obama bypassed the Senate confirmation process entirely, giving Berwick a recess appointment last week before the committee could act on his nomination.

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, CNSNews.com asked Senator Mikulski: “On July 1, 2008, in a speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of Britain’s single-payer health-care system, Dr. Donald Berwick, President Obama’s recess-appointee to run Medicare and Medicaid said quote: ‘Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must--must--redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate.’ Do you agree with that or disagree with that?”

Mikulski responded: “Well, rather than looking at the quotes of Dr. Berwick, I’m going to look at what the health reform bill is. I believe that any appointment of President Obama is not about his personal opinions, it’s about him following the law. And as we go through the confirmation hearings, we’ll say, ‘Dr. Berwick, you know what the law is, do you intend to follow it?’”

[Duh.]

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1 comment:

Concerned Retiree said...

Mikulski the weasal. She will not be truthful on anything. She knows the healthcare bill is a big fat joke but will standby her vote for it even though she knows it is going to destroy our healthcare in the US. Her aide contacted me after the disgraceful vote on healthcare and tried to defend it. She finally admited they were not included in the bill when I pressed the issue if she had ever read the bill. She was supposed to send me paperwork and I have yet to receive it and that was in MAY. So who expected any different reply from the short Obama puppet.