All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

A majority of Americans would pay higher taxes if it meant health insurance for everyone, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll – though many worry that the nation’s economy will suffer if the government were to offer universal health care.

The poll also finds that health care is a major domestic concern for Americans, second only to the economy.

Fifty-seven percent of those polled say they are willing to pay higher taxes in order to provide all Americans with health care coverage. While seventy three percent of Democrats favor a tax increase to fund coverage, only twenty-nine percent of Republicans back such a move.

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Read The Complete Poll (PDF)

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Asked which domestic policy area the president and the Congress should focus on other than the economy, thirty-five percent said health care, the top choice. The second most popular choice was education at twenty-two percent, followed by social security at seventeen percent and energy at fifteen percent.

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Health care will be the focus of attention at the White House Thursday and this week on CBSNews.com's weekly politics Web show, Washington Unplugged. We will hear from Senator Tom Coburn (R- Okla.) and a White House spokesperson about the president’s health care plans. Our weekly roundtable will include CBS News’ Nancy Cordes and Wyatt Andrews as well as the Washington Post’s Ceci Connolly to break down the plans and take your questions.

We want to hear from you. E-mail your health care questions to washingtonunplugged@cbs.com and you may have it answered on "Washington Unplugged" this Friday at 2pm at www.cbsnews/washingtonunplugged.com.

Also, you can make a prediction about the future of health care legislation below:

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In the wake of a New York Times report that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas was President Barack Obama's top choice to be secretary of health and human services, a White House source told CBS News that the Times article was overstated.

The source said that she was still "one of the top choices." Other reports have mentioned that Gov. Phil Bredesen, D-Tenn., Gov. John Kitzhaber, D-Ore, and Mr. Obama's transition chief of staff John Podesta are also under consideration for the position.

Sebelius, 60, a Democratic governor in a deeply "red" state, has a reputation for working in a bipartisan fashion. It's a style that might appeal to an administration eager to avoid the legislative snares that brought down the Clinton team's healthcare reform efforts when it introduces its own plan to extend coverage to the uninsured.

As governor, Sebelius pushed to give healthcare to Kansas all children from birth to age five.

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