Sebelius gets 15-8 committee okay

Gov. Sebelius is one step closer to becoming HHS Secretary. Sebelius passed committee approval with complete Democrat approval as well as yea votes from Olympia Snowe of Maine and our own Pat Roberts.

Eight Republican's voted against her confirmation. Sen Jon Kyl of Arizona voted against because he wasn't convinced she would do enough to keep the government out of the doctor/patient relationship. Her ties to Tiller were also noted. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah voted against Sebelius because of her inability to tell the truth regarding her relationship to Tiller.

Sebelius will most assuredly be confirmed by the Senate as a whole, probably quite soon. It's too bad she'll now be able to influence our entire nations health care system, but on the other hand, I'm not sad to see her leaving the land of Oz.

So of course the question now becomes whether or not she'll still be around for the veto session. I think now that the committee vote is over and pro-lifers don't seem to have anyone on point to block a full vote, she'll be confirmed quickly, maybe even by the end of the week. It's quite possible she'll be gone before the end of the veto session.

I doubt that will have any bearing on whether or not additional taxes and fees are passed to balance the budget.