OBAMA & HEALTH CARE "REFORM"

Some members of the health care "industry." including doctors, business owners and insurers, are taking part in a White House forum today to discuss with President Barack Obama the cost, coverage and quality of health care in the U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is expected to raise concerns about the $634 billion "down payment" for wider insurance coverage. Baucus is no friend to single-payer and had ruled it "off the table" - advocates of it had not been invited. After several complaints to the White House, the forum will include Congressman John Conyers, author of HR 676 single payer legislation in the House, and Dr. Oliver Fine, who currently heads Physicians for a National Health Program.

Obama has appointed Zeke Emanuel - brother of Rahm, so you know the implications of the appointment - as adviser to Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Emanuel, an experienced physician and health policymaker, is expected to help the administration enforce universal health coverage (read: insurance industry based) and lower health care costs.