Tommy In Rerun

Tommy's shopworn 'news' release about "Obamacare" has all the excitement of a washed-out "Dukes of Hazzard" rerun on late-night cable.

Please tell me this language was not writing-by-committee:

Whether the Supreme Court or an act of Congress leads to the demise of Obamacare - it must be sent to the ash heap of history. America has the greatest health care system in the world and it must be preserved and improved upon. Not destroyed.

And the release morphs into sheer hackery when Tommy-the-DC-lawyer/insider, who sits on too many health care and other business boards to remember, says a "marketplace approach" to health care delivery is his prescription for reform.

Now whom do you suppose that will help the most?

In Tommy's case, we may never know, as he has said, for now, he will sever only some of his corporate ties.

A Washington, DC non-profit watchdog group has put the number at 42:

Revolving Door Report

Washington, D.C. – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released Revolving Door, a first-ever comprehensive look into the activities of 24 members of President Bush’s cabinet...

CREW’s newest report demonstrates that the “revolving door” remains open.

After leaving their government positions, many of these top officials joined the ranks of the companies they once regulated where they are highly compensated. In many instances, they have helped their new employers obtain lucrative government grants and contracts...

The most prodigious corporate adviser appears to be former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who has worked for 42 different companies since leaving the Bush administration.

Just what the Congress needs least right now: A member who has moved from the serving as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), to advising businesses that agency oversaw, to legislating with a direct effect on his former agency and businesses for which he worked.

And here's a bonus: Watch Tommy say he isn't going to Washington to just say "no," then have to admit to Mike Gousha that he's signed a "No New Taxes" pledge.

D'oh!

Here's a second bonus: A national conservative organization has endorsed Mark Neumann for the Senate seat and ripped Tommy for helping pass 'Obamacare.'

Go figure.

J