Sebelius: No slam dunk

By Jennifer J. Foster

Late word tonight has it that Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has emerged as the leader of the pack among those being considered to become the next Health and Human Services secretary.

White House officials, stung by the embarrassing withdrawals of at least four picks from Cabinet and senior-level positions, have learned to hedge their bets: President Obama is still considering others—including U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.); Tennessee’s Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen; and former U.S. Sen. (and 2000 presidential candidate) Bill Bradley (D-N.J.)—for the post.

But Sebelius seems to have the edge. And she wouldn’t be a completely unexpected pick. She was a strong supporter of Obama’s, and she is said to have a good personal relationship with him.

And if she is open to leaving Topeka, no one could blame her. After all, her state’s revenue situation is so tight that legislators this week scrambled to move money around to be able to pay state employees on time.

One question about Sebelius, though: Are they sure she’s paid her taxes?

I’m just saying, it might come up.

It’s unclear to me why Sebelius is emerging as the front-runner for HHS chief. Her background is mostly in insurance issues, not health care, and although she’s proposed a few big items as governor, education seems to have been her top priority and where she has left the strongest mark.

In addition, if she is the pick, Sebelius will likely face tough questioning from conservative senators who will want to know more about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, a perennial strong financial supporter of her campaigns, and how that relationship would color her service and priorities as HHS secretary. Kansas has been Ground Zero for some of the hottest battles between the pro-life and pro-choice lobbies over the past few years, and it is no coincidence that George Tiller, by far the most famous practitioner of the late-term abortion procedure known as “partial-birth abortion,“ practices there. (Read the abortion section of Sebelius’s Wiki bio for more background on this issue and how it might play in her confirmation hearings.)

She’s a popular governor with strong ties to Obama, so—her relative inexperience in this policy area notwithstanding—it’s no surprise that her name would float to the top of any HHS chief prospect list.

But make no mistake: She’s no slam-dunk. And that could spell trouble for an administration that could certainly use an easy layup.

Hammett’s had it

By Jennifer J. Foster

I meant to post this for you guys the other day, but it somehow got by me.

Anyway, we talked last week about how State Sen. Phil Poole was mucking things up again in Montgomery.

It’s a bit of a habit for him—you know, his own little tradition.

Well, it seems that Alabama House Speaker Seth Hammett—a fellow Democrat, as fate would have it—has had it with Poole and his temper tantrums, so he’s decided to communicate with him in a language he’ll understand.

The folks at the Parlor call it an incentive, but I’d call it more of an ultimatum to Senate leaders: Either Poole knocks it off, or your bills die a slow, painful death in the House.

Read the Parlor post for more, including info on the D-L from a legislator on the inside.

And yes, that’s me in comment No. 5. Interesting responses that followed, don’t you think?

Way to go, Mr. Speaker! Poole has already thrown sticks in the spokes of the last two legislative sessions; kudos to you for drawing the line in the sand so it doesn’t happen again.

Shelby in Auburn

By Jennifer J. Foster

I went to see U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby at his Lee County town hall meeting here in Auburn last night.

One, he’s taller in person. A lot taller in person. The guy is probably 6’3” or something.

Two, thanks to the discussion last night and a couple of questions I asked, I think I may be able to break some news for you here. Stay tuned; I’m working on it.

In the meantime, check out Opelika-Auburn News reporter Katie Stallcup’s quick take on the meeting here.

Seriously ... stay tuned.

Burris, get out

By Jennifer J. Foster

We talked on Monday about how U.S. Sen. Roland Burris had had a revelation and provided an affidavit to supplement testimony he gave state lawmakers in their impeachment investigation of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagovejich.

As it turns out, the “supplement” was more like a “correction.“

Details are emerging about the conversations Burris had with the governor’s brother, Rob Blagojevich—

SIDEBAR: Rod and Rob Blagojevich? It sounds like a circus sideshow act.

Oh, wait—it is. END SIDEBAR

—about raising money for the governor.

Just to review, this is important because Blago was under federal investigation for corruption—among other things, allegedly selling Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Burris told reporters that he spoke with Rob Blagojevich three times about fundraisers for the governor. Here’s CNN’s take on it:

In them, he said he discussed possibly raising money for the governor before ultimately declining.

Burris said he had “talked to some people about trying to put a fundraiser on,“ but told Robert Blagojevich shortly after Obama’s election that no one was willing to give.

In a third conversation, he finally said it would be inappropriate to raise money because he was interested in being appointed to the Senate.

Tell me if you read it differently, but to me, that looks like Burris 1) agreed to do the fundraiser, then 2) reported that he had asked for but was finding if difficult to raise money for Blago, then 3) backed out because of the pending appointment decision.

So, that means he did try to raise money for Blago.

And that would be really, really bad for Burris.

As it is, it’s still really bad for him. The Chicago Tribune joined a bunch of others in calling for Burris’s immediate resignation from the Senate with a scathing editorial—subtitled, “His evolving explanations”—last night. Here are the best parts:

The benefit of the doubt had already been stretched thin and taut by the time Roland Burris offered his third version of the events leading to his appointment to the U.S. Senate. It finally snapped like a rubber band, popping him on that long Pinocchio nose of his, when he came out with version four ...

Rob Blagojevich’s attorney has acknowledged that the feds likely have at least one of those conversations on tape. Burris told reporters Monday night that he “talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser on,“ but “they said, ‘We aren’t giving money to the governor.‘ “

The hole just gets deeper and deeper, and Burris keeps digging. He has no credibility.

And many Democrats are losing theirs ...

Finally, remember that Illinois Democrats failed to do right by the people and schedule a special election for this Senate vacancy. If they had done that, voters today might be weighing the lost credibility of candidate Burris, instead of expressing their disgust with Sen. Burris.

Disgraceful. Disgraceful all around.

There’s only one honorable action for Burris: resign.

Strip this whole wretched process out of the hands of the politicians and give it back to the people.

Simile? Imagery? Outright disgust? AWESOME!!

For his part, Burris is really, really contrite, y’all (insert sarcasm here).

“I have made an effort to be as transparent as I can, and I’m willing to take a further step as I have nothing to hide,“ he told reporters, reading from a prepared statement.

“I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies, including those referred by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Senate Ethics Committee to answer any question they have.“

Translation: Please, oh PLEASE don’t kick me out of the Senate!! My inscriptionist has already blocked out “SENATOR” above “TRAILBLAZER” on the massive marble monument I’ve created for myself!!

The Tribune had it right: This “whole wretched process” tests the limits of shame among Illinois’s politicians.

The question is, will the people of Illinois join the chorus of state lawmakers and editorial boards and demand—dare I say it?—change they can believe in?

We shall see.