April 28, 2009 6:25 PM

Health Secretary Sebelius Confirmed By Senate

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
White House
(CBS)
President Obama has his final Cabinet pick: The Senate has confirmed Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as Health And Human Services secretary.

Sebelius does not have time to ease into the job, as she now becomes the administration's point person in dealing with the swine flu outbreak. The HHS secretary will also spearhead the administration's effort to reform health care, one of the president's primary goals.

The Associated Press reports that the 65-31 vote came as Democrats pushed for the confirmation as soon as possible so that Sebelius could get to work addressing swine flu.

Some Republicans objected to Sebelius' nomination because she is pro-choice and because of how they expect her to overhaul health care. She only received five more votes than the 60 needed for confirmation.

President Obama's first pick for the post, Former Sen. Tom Daschle, withdrew amidst controversy concerning his taxes.

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by strangeworld April 29, 2009 10:27 AM EDT
"Well, NO, what the government has done with their socialist policies is create a great percentage of the population into lazy arsed high school drop outs"

LOL...you are obviously part of the paranoid "Guns, God, and gays section of the modern republican party. You're arguments are no longer finding a new audience...the only people that your devisive rhetoric appeals to are others who have been firmly entrenched in GOP paranoia and vote republican. The net value of old BS talking points like welfare moms, dropouts, etc.. is zero...nobody's listening. The republican party will soon morph, and when it does it's going to leave you, and the rest of the splinter group paranoids, by the side of the road. The GOP is first and foremost a vehicle to bring more wealth to those who already have it...they only were interested in the social issue paranoids because they saw that they could win elections by including you in the mix. Now you've become a liability, younger voters are shunning you like the plague, and the wealthy are losing money having you around.
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by strangeworld April 29, 2009 9:55 AM EDT
The modern GOP has come to a crossroads...they either have to embrace the rich & greedy of the party or the lunatic "guns, God, and gays" paranoids of the party...neither is a good choice for younger Americans today. The world is changing, the Reagan revolution people are dying, and the GOP has little chance of gaining traction by using it's "keep 'em scared" policy to control the masses now because let's face it, they created too many poor people with their policies of shifting the country's wealth to the rich.
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by craigh41 April 29, 2009 9:45 AM EDT
Just one more example of how the Republicans don't give a damn about america - just their own petty issues.

The GBBP (Gingrich, Boehner, Bachmann, Palin) party has shown just how low they will sink. To think that something once as noble as the Republican party is down to these 4 buffoons being the primary voices of reason is absolutely pathetic - Last member of the GOP out the door please remember to turn off the lights!!!!
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by johnb8888 April 29, 2009 8:22 AM EDT
So Miss Piggie Palin and the Petulant Repigs didn't manage to obstruct this one?

Just like they won't manage to obstruct the changes that are being made to undo the Fascist Bushit Regime.
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by elz523 April 29, 2009 6:40 AM EDT
I've yet to see any information that this lady has a medical background, similar to the fact that the homeland security chief has no security background....so, since the economy is so bad except for government, let's ALL apply for jobs for which we are completely not qualified.
Posted by SteelersWinAgain at 2:00 AM : Apr 29, 2009

You don't have to be a physician to do well in this job. If it is medical care you need that is when you need a physician. What we need is healthcare reform involving health insurance and she was insurance commissioner and an effective leader in Kansas.
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by SteelersWinAgain April 29, 2009 5:00 AM EDT
I've yet to see any information that this lady has a medical background, similar to the fact that the homeland security chief has no security background....so, since the economy is so bad except for government, let's ALL apply for jobs for which we are completely not qualified.
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by strangeworld April 29, 2009 1:15 AM EDT
The dam has broken, the GOP is losing it's power over the paranoid. As time passes, more of those brainwashed by the republican party's "keep 'em scared" campaign will realize that the boogeyman will not get them if democrats hold power - and as they come to this realization, they'll find that other than the unfounded fear instilled in them by republican leaders, there's little reason for the common man to support the modern GOP. America has finally realized that the republican emperor has no clothes.
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by tiredofthebs April 29, 2009 1:01 AM EDT
Do we have a full Cabinet yet?
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by wardoglrs April 29, 2009 12:45 AM EDT
The entire Obama team are all strike out communist just what the voter hoped for?
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by DefendLiberty April 29, 2009 12:33 AM EDT
While the swine flu spread, the swine in the GOP held up the nomination of the person who should have been organizing the response. Why? Because the CHRISTIAN TALIBAN did not like her pro-choice tendencies. Yes, PEOPLE WILL DIE because the GOP is in the pocket of the "CHRISTIAN RIGHT" who have no greater goal than a CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY to surreptitiously supplant our government.

The GOP needs to dump these wannabe IRANIAN-STYLE CHRISTIAN MULLAHS and let them crawl back under their intolerant RELIGIOUS THEOCRACY rock.
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