Action Alert: Dr. Howard Dean for Secretary of HHS

This comes from Democracy for NYC, though I have seen similar things on Daily Kos and other blogs:

GOV. DEAN NOT GOV. BREDESEN FOR SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

President Obama is considering nominating Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee as HHS secretary. This would be a disaster for Medicaid according to information on his record from the Tennessee Justice Center.

Enthusiasm for the appointment of Gov. Howard Dean MD as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services is growing within and without Democracy for NYC and sister groups. Among the great arguments for his appointment are:

· Dean was the longest-serving Democratic governor in the country when he opted not to run for his 6th full term; he twice won more than 70% of the vote for re-election, which is the very definition of bipartisan

· He was elected chairman of the National Governors Association by a bipartisan group of 50 other members

· He reformed health care in his state to provide universal coverage for children and pregnant women, an achievement that leveraged his experience as a medical doctor and reflected his practical approach as a governor

· During his term Vermont paid off much of its public debt and he balanced 11 budgets despite being a rare state where that is not required by law

We have a small window of opportunity to add our voices to this excellent choice for Secretary of HHS.

If you support this idea, you can make two phone calls right now:

1 Call the White House Comment Line at 202-456-1111 and ask President Obama to appoint Gov. Howard Dean MD as Secretary of Health and Human Services

2 Then, call Sen. Max Baucus of Montana 202-224-2651- he chairs the Senate Finance Committee that needs to approve of the nominee. Ask him to publicly come out in support of Gov. Howard Dean MD as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

And, if you write on any blogs, please write a post today about why you support Gov. Dean for HHS.

We got an energy expert for Energy Secretary. Now lets get a doctor with experience reforming healthcare as Secretary of HHS.