Waxman grants Dingell lead role on health care

By GottaLaff

Universal health care just got a boost:

California Rep. Henry A. Waxman has cut a deal with the man he dethroned last month as chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, in a bid to diffuse leftover tension from that bitter contest.

Under terms announced Thursday, Michigan Rep. John D. Dingell will take the lead on all major health care initiatives before the committee in the next Congress and have a say in personnel matters as part of an agreement worked out with his successor.

In addition, as chairman emeritus, Dingell will have "a suitable staff to assist with his work" on the panel, according to a joint release from the two lawmakers issued Thursday night. [...]

By granting Dingell a role as "the lead sponsor" of whatever national health care legislation the committee considers, Waxman is giving the Dean of the House the chance to cap his historic career by realizing his father's goal of universal health care coverage - Dingell's father, a former House member, first introduced legislation creating national health insurance in 1943.