In a typical year and time, the office of Health and Human Services is often an overlooked one – and one that gains little credibility for all that they do. However, as we all know, the current times are not all that normal.
2020 and all its woes may have passed. But the novel Coronavirus pandemic is still very much here. And that makes any federal position pertaining to health a critical one, or at least it should.
However, it seems newly-elected President Joe Biden (FYI, that still feels wrong to type) isn’t all that interested in making sure the head of the HHS has any real health experience.
Biden’s nomination for the cabinet seat is Democratic California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Notice that I said attorney general, not surgeon general.
Becerra, as the AG of California, has little to no actual health experience. What he does have is lots of time in a court of law. Becerra was first a California State Assemblyman. Then he served in Congress for a little over two decades. And then, when now-Vice President Kamala Harris left her post as AG in 2017 to join the Senate, Becerra succeeded her.
So yes, lots of law experience.
One would have thought a man with these talents would have been given serious consideration for United States Attorney General. I mean, that only seems natural, right?
But that position was given to another. And so, the head of HHS must be Becerra’s consolation prize or something.
When it comes to matters of health, the only notable connection is when he served for a short period of time on the House subcommittee for health. And then, of course, he has always been a strong supporter of both abortion and the Affordable Care Act. (I’m sure it was the latter that got him noticed by Biden at all).
But even more concerning than his general lack of qualifications for his possible new title is his not so successful record in California.
As attorney general of the liberal state, Becerra would have been in the position to make some rather severe decisions and changes when it came to the pandemic and how it was being handled in California. And he did.
But they were all the wrong ones.
As with everywhere, unemployment and homelessness have grown in the Golden State. But nearly nowhere else has seen such a drastic increase than Becerra’s home. And he did nothing to change that situation except to blame others.
So who did he blame? Well, President Donald Trump, of course.
Instead of calling on her fellow state leaders and making plans for change, he spent hard-earned tax dollars and months of time pursuing legal action against the Trump administration.
In April of last year, he said in a press release, “The Trump Administration has a responsibility to protect vulnerable communities across the country. It’s not enough to say you want to slow the spread of COVID-19, the federal government has to continue to act to make it happen – and that includes putting a stop to this foolhardy proposal. Nobody should have to face the prospect of evicting a loved one to keep a roof over the rest of their family’s heads. It was acceptable before and it’s certainly not okay during a public health crisis that requires people to stay at home.”
In fact, during Trump’s time in the White House, Becerra’s office filed papers of litigation against the Trump Administration a total of 122 times, with nine of those submitted on his very last full day in office.
Talk about a waste of time and money.
According to the Associated Press, most of these lawsuits had to do with the environment and the far-left’s belief that President Trump and his staff were effectively killing off our planet. However, there were quite a few in defense of the ACA, and, as I mentioned before, this is what gave him the most notoriety.
But just because you think Obamacare is the best option for America’s healthcare (and you’d be wrong for thinking so) doesn’t mean you should be considered for the nation’s near highest position on health and safety. Given that Obamacare has widely failed the American people, if anything, it should disqualify you.
Then again, Biden’s not exactly known for firing on all cylinders lately, is he?