Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

October 12, 2009

Daily Pulse: Insurance Lobby Breaks with White House

Though the Obama administration's fight to reform health care hasn't been easy, this is the week it gets harder.

"After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday with a report warning that the typical family premium in 2019 could cost $4,000 more than projected," the Washington Post reports.

"The critique, coming one day before a critical Senate committee vote on the legislation, sparked a sharp response from the Obama administration. It also signaled an end to the fragile detente between two central players in this year's health-care reform drama."

Politico: "At the very least, expect to hear a lot more about the report from Republicans, who are looking to slow any kind of momentum for the Democratic health care reform proposals after the Congressional Budget Office's positive analysis last week."

Meanwhile, the New York Times notes that as the health care debate moves to the floor of Congress, "most of the serious proposals to fulfill President Obama's original vow to curb costs have fallen victim to organized interests and parochial politics."

Said Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN): "The lobbyists are winning."

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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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