CBO Director May Help Determine Fate Of Health Care
Several newspapers had articles on major players in health care reform. Douglas W. Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, has "toiled for much of his career in the anonymous bowels of the nation"s economic superstructure," the Washington Post reports. But now, some lawmakers "think he holds the fate of public policy in his hands." After delivering a "skeptical analysis of a stimulus package intended to rescue the U.S. economy" and forecasting "bigger-than-expected losses from a $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial system, Elmendorf now "faces the toughest task of his brief tenure: attaching a price to a monumental overhaul of the nation"s health-care system." Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has "publicly lectured Elmendorf, saying he has a moral duty to be "creative" and deliver the favorable budget estimates "we have to have" to win broad support." But Elmendorf says "his office will offer an objective analysis, "without regard to the political consequences."" Elmendorf told the Post that his office would provide the information, but the decision is in the hands of Congress. "CBO is not going to make or break health-care reform," he says.
Cardiovascular