From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Healthcare reform without Tom Dashel.

Hello again, I'm Warren Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Former Senate leader Tom Dashel was key to making good on a major promise of the Obama campaign, better

access to health care for all Americans. Today, Dashel withdrew his cabinet nomination to avoid

what he called distraction, apparently the flap over unpaid federal taxes. We'll hear more about the politics

of the White House and Congress, and we'll look at what this could mean for health care reform.

If a single-payer system run by the government is off the table, what about extending Medicare

or care for veterans? Is that what Republicans call nationalization? What about dealing with

rising costs, especially for

treatment that's not really needed? First, the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of

KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include

the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Warren Alney, back with To the Poet. Can the U.S. afford to reform a failing

system of health care in the midst of an economic crisis? Can it afford not to? We'll hear

what's in the stimulus bill and how it could shape debate on questions of life and death. First, a

breaking news story with major implications

for health care reform. Former Senator Tom Dashel stunned Washington today by withdrawing his nomination

as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Here's White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

I think they both recognize that you can't set an example of responsibility, but accept a different standard in who serves.

They both decided and recognized that their nominations would distract from the important goals

...