Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

July 17, 2009

Daily Pulse on Health Care Politics

The biggest news in health care politics in yesterday's endorsement of the House Democratic plan by the American Medical Association. The Hill notes the AMA "helped torpedo the Clinton administration's effort to revamp the nation's health care system 15 years ago."

President Obama touted the physician group's move, saying "these doctors are joining the chorus of Americans who know that the time to reform what is broken about the health care system is now."

Despite the high profile endorsement, cost issues continue to dominate the debate.

CQ Politics notes CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf reported that the "bills in both chambers would increase long-term federal spending on health care. Obama has stressed that a reform bill must rein in exploding health care costs."

The Washington Post calls the CBO report "a devastating assessment" of the legislation -- "fueling an insurrection among fiscal conservatives in the House and pushing negotiators in the Senate to redouble efforts to draw up a new plan that more effectively restrains federal spending."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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