What's This Thing in My Back?

Medicare Nominee Agrees to Senator's Demand

It's a spine! And Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, proved that he has one by refusing to let Mark McClellan, nominee to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, come up for a floor vote until he answered important questions about his positions on prescription drug importation. McClellan tried to pull a Bush on the Senate, saying they could confirm him first and he'd explain his positions once he had the job. While that may have gotten Bush into office, I think we all know it isn't the standard interviewing procedure for a job, and it's good that Dorgan had the common sense and guts to stand up to McClellan.

The fact that it worked is also a sign that the White House is scrambling. They'll claim they agreed to the questioning because the new Medicare law needs administering--and I'm sure that's part of the truth, because they're anxious to start pouring money into the hands of important campaign contributors. But the fact that they bowed to the demand also shows that they know the Democrats had the popular position on the issue and wanted to keep it off the front page. Pressing issues like this from now until November can keep them scrambling.

Of course, saying you believe something during your testimony prior to confirmation doesn't mean you'll carry it out. John Ashcroft had to testify. McClellan will likely say he supports further study of the idea, make some vague chit-chat on the issue, and get confirmed because, let's face it, how can you not confirm a person who's a physician and an economist to be the head of Medicare? And he probably won't let the importation effort move forward in any real way once he's in charge. But at least he'll be on the record lying about it.