If you want a simple shorthand for the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., I can do it in two words: Don Berwick.
Some of you may be nodding your head in vigorous agreement. Others of you may say, oh there's Dan carrying water for the Obama administration. And most of you are probably scratching your heads and asking, who? I only had a vague sense of who Dr. Berwick was until I sat down with him recently for an extensive interview for my weekly news magazine program on HDNet. And I would contend that the Beltway Establishment that chewed him up and spit him out almost certainly did so without taking the time to get to know him at all. What a pity.
Dr. Don Berwick, a pediatrician by training, came to Washington with a sterling reputation among people who actually know something about health care. He had helped pioneer the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, which may sound like another pointy-headed D.C. think tank, but really is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization lauded the world over for helping make health care systems better. For example, they have worked with hospitals on common sense techniques to reduce hospital infections. These are serious people who are welcomed in hospitals and clinics across the country and around the world.
When President Obama forwarded Dr. Berwick's name to head the little-known but very important Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the appointment was controversial from the start. This is the part of the federal government that runs health care already for 100 million Americans and it is also tasked with carrying out key aspects of Obama's health care law. So most of the animus had nothing to do with Dr. Berwick himself, rather it was Republican senators who were unhappy with Obamacare. That's their right. Win elections. Change the law. But the idea that you would withhold a clearly qualified candidate from government service is not the answer. Of course, the opposition had to make a case against Berwick so they glommed on to some vague statements he made about "rationing" and the British National Health Service. Buzzwords, regardless of context, pass for political discourse these days.
So President Obama used a recess appointment for Berwick and when that term was finished, there was no chance he would get the now 60 votes required to do almost anything in the Senate these days. So he packed his bags and headed back to Boston. Folks, this is crazy. And this is not just about Dr. Berwick and his intriguing ideas about how to make health care better and more affordable. We have serious problems in this country that need fixing and we need smart, thoughtful people to serve in government. Someday there will be a Republican president and in the political arms race that is Washington today, I would not be surprised if the Democrats resorted to the same tactics if they could be shown to have worked.
I've been covering Washington for a long time. Highly partisan posturing and selfishness is not new but it's never been this bad. In the '60s, civil rights legislation was highly controversial and public opinion was divided. In the end, office holders from both parties put their differences aside and worked out a solution in the best interest of the people and the country as a whole by passing the Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act. One thing is certain, in those days, a man with Dr. Berwick's qualifications would have had a confirmation hearing and almost certainly passed the Senate regardless of whether he was appointed by a Democrat or a Republican.
Dr. Berwick told me we need a lot more honesty in addressing the inadequacies in our health care system. We need to make the system as a whole work better, for people who see problems to not be afraid to come forward with their ideas. (The Obama administration's record on coming down on whistleblowers could take a lesson from this as well). Dr. Berwick doesn't have all the answers. He'll be the first to tell you that. And our government has worked best when we have vigorous debates. No political party holds a monopoly on wisdom. But the debate must be of substance. It's easy to cripple a complex thought with a pungent sound bite in our current media environment. That might help you win the news cycle but it won't mean your mother will have a safer -- or less expensive -- stay in the hospital.
Dan Rather Reports airs Tuesdays on HDNet at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET. This program is now available on iTunes. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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You should do your homework better before becoming a cheerleader of Dr. Berwick. Dr. Berwick will not go before the house or senate to defend himself by his own choice. This is despite making recent public statements that up to one-third of medical resources are squandered in America. Do you think that members of both sides of the isle wouldnt want to hear about that?
Why is Dr. Berwick ducking public scrutiny? Because very little veracity or bipartisan progression on American healthcare could be gained by simply analysis of his past or present beliefs. http://vimeo.com/10468247. His views are intensely, alarmingly against private medicine. He's a non-elected official attempting to steer medical billing codes to actively ration care without the backlash of open debate.
Berwick has long advocated the regimented control of all doctors decisions. He has equated being a doctor with a flight attendant, receiving all direction from the FAA in Washington (Boston Globe Magazine, 2004).
I'm sorry Dan; if he wants to be a catalyst for change/hold positions of power, he must be held accountable for these statements. Does he really believe in rationing? How much rationing does he believe in and where would he ration? Are all doctors to be reduced to flight attendants reading from a government script? Does he think that he is smarter than most doctors?
Its pretty obvious why he would want to avoid being questioned, because what he says and believes is not defensible.
Micah 5:2's Bethlehem [house of bread] Ephratah [plentiful] is the USA out of which will come the world's peace bringer (Isaiah 2:2-4) which (11:10) say will be an ensign to the gentiles and born (11:11-12) about 1948, so he is in the house and only needs to be recognized and put in place. http://www.change.org/petitions/eliminate-capitalistic-military-regime?share_id=WMPkGNQvAT& is designed to do that, if only US citizens would sign it for eliminating the selfish & greedy leaders we have in place now the doctor will bring healing to this nation and the world.
– W.E.B. DuBois (The Crisis. Vol. 22-24, page 11, 1921)
They both are out for their own private agenda's.
Our country is lost and has been lost since WWII ended.
The pride and love towards our country by it's citizens is gone and it will never, ever come back.
We are in a lot of trouble as a nation and our very young citizens are doomed.
If we can't convince either party to reject the influence that the majority of money has over their policy decisions instead of the "common sense" reflected by the majority of votes, then....
We need another way. We need a third party. A group that understands "common sense" means to enact policy that is best for the majority of common voters, instead of the minority of large donors.
One example - "Single Payer". Everyone knows ( especially insurance companies) this is the only path that has a chance to provide decent health care for all citizens, equally at the lowest cost to our society.
Common sense for "profit" is not the same as common sense for the common majority.
But then again that's typical
Donald Berwick.