By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

March 3, 2009 – Monday’s appointment of Nancy Ann DeParle to serve as the White House lead on health care reform was particularly interesting to me.  You see, I once worked for DeParle back when she still hyphenated her name “Minn-De Parle.”

It only goes to show how small the Washington circle really can be.  I doubt DeParle remembers much about our almost two years together even though I reported directly to her. She was focused, and clearly on the fast track at Health and Human Services.

It’s no surprise she landed this post.

I recall when she came to the top spot as the administrator of the agency that runs the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  I was over the communications offices for the agency and she followed another highly-respected policy wonk, Bruce Vladeck.

There was always a distant rumor that she was eyeing the secretary post should then-Secretary Donna Schalala have made an early departure.  Of course Schalala stayed until the end of the Clinton Administration so that was never an issue.

DeParle’s landing this job is no surprise.  At age 29, she became Tennessee’s Commissioner of the Department of Human Services, one of the youngest folks to ever do so, and like others on the Obama team, she has the Clinton connections.

I remember her as a feisty and energetic colleague who juggled several balls in the air at one time.  She either liked you or she didn’t, and she sometimes had very little patience for the bureaucratic process.  It will be interesting to watch how she co-leads health care reform with Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and how persuasive she’ll be with Congress.

Sebelius, a two-term Democratic governor in a Republican state will most likely be the lead on congressional outreach, but DeParle will be called upon to do some arm-twisting in the health care industry and my guess is that will be her strong suit.

I’ll have to check in with her at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue once she settles in: Long-time-no-see, Nancy Ann.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Feb. 26, 2009 – President Barack Obama outlined his first budget for the nation’s ailing economy, targeting cuts to wasteful spending on health care and raising taxes on the wealthy. The plan calls for spending $3.55 trillion in 2010 as well as adding $3.9 trillion in spending to the 2009 budget.

“Having inherited a trillion-dollar deficit that will take a long time for us to close, we need to focus on what we need to move the economy forward, not on what’s nice to have,” Obama said during his opening remarks.

So, how will the president’s budget impact you?

Obama’s proposed budget lays out a plan for overhauling one of the largest entitlement programs: Medicare. He isn’t looking to balance the budget this year, but he would allow the tax cuts from the Bush years to expire (on those making more than $250,000), and cut taxes for the middle class (those making less than $250.000).

That means the $400.00 (if you’re single) or the $800.00 (for couples) designated as the middle class tax cut in the stimulus package would become permanent. The budget also calls for expanding existing tax credits for college students and the child tax credit.

Black lawmakers met with the president Thursday afternoon at the White House and told reporters it was “a very open meeting.”  Rep. Barbara Lee, (D-Calif.) told reporters after the closed door meeting that they discussed “how we move forward.” 

“The president is a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus and we’ve been working with the president on our priorities and those for all Americans.”

But health care is the biggie.  The president is looking at getting huge savings from Medicare and Medicaid and getting an estimated 48 million uninsured folks insured.  In the president’s budget he would set aside $634 billion over the next 10 years to get the job done.

Obama told those gathered, “As we develop a full budget that will come out this spring, we’re going to go through our books page by page, line by line, to eliminate waste and inefficiency. This is a process that will take some time, but in the last 30 days alone, we have already identified $2 trillion in deficit reductions that will help us cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term.”

The rest of the money would come from cuts in Medicare across the board.  Insurance plans, hospitals, nursing homes and drug companies would face cuts because all health care contracting would be open for competitive bidding.  Something these programs don’t do now.  If Congress allows this, it could result in substantial savings and drive some costs down.

This strategy won’t sit well with his Republican critics and fiscally conservative Democrats.  They may agree with his plan to pay for health care with savings rather than adding it to the budget woes, but they may not come on board with what they consider tax hikes.

Now we’ll have to see what Congress does with the president’s budget.