I haven’t put anything up about Hillary Clinton’s Universal Healthcare plan because I am still reading all available information. I will have more asap. Until then though I found a very interesting article in the USA Today that says the following:

Clinton unveiled her plan as Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said President Bush wants to achieve universal health care before he leaves office.

Leavitt told the USA TODAY editorial board that Bush will veto a Democratic plan emerging from Congress that would add $35 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the Children’s Health Insurance Program over five years. In doing so, Leavitt said, Bush will urge Congress to join him in seeking coverage for all Americans.

“He’d like to see the larger debate begin,” Leavitt said. “The very best opportunity we have may well be in the next 15 months.”

Could it be true? What in the world would it mean? Lets have a look.

OK so the president has a problem. Right now his administration is tied to Iraq. Republicans and Democrats alike are attacking his early accomplishments including the major one No Child Left Behind, he faced a string of domestic policy failures not achieving social security reform and losing major support after hurricane Katrina. Now he is facing the last year and a half of his presidency. The Congress is now controlled by his opposition, he has lost his attorney general, his chief political advisor, his press secretary and the only new initiative that he could really achieve that is on the horizon is a much rumored potential war with Iran. Not exactly a great way to walk out of the White House.

Right now Americans want Universal Healthcare. They want everyone covered, they want either a government choice or better choices, both parties Republican and Democrat have candidates that are beginning to talk about it and put forward plans. At the moment the Democrats seem ready to hold their control on the Congress, gain seats and maybe even take the presidency. So what does a president who cannot put forward his own agenda do?

I have to figure he takes a page from his predecessor who faced a Congress held by the opposition party in-part because of his actions. He reaches across party lines, urges his own people to give a little and take a little and tries to leave something other than an unpopular war behind for his legacy.

That is all speculation based on what his HHS secretary said today. Who knows if the president is even really thinking about universal health coverage. At the end of the day though, what else is he spending his time on? What else could he push through?

So what are the political implications?

First and foremost Congress also has a problem. People seem to like this democratic controlled Congress as much as they liked the Republican one before it. Why? Well the fact that since January they haven’t accomplished much doesn’t help. The fact that they and the president cannot come to an understanding on the War isn’t helping much.

The Democrats want to push forward Democratic issues, the Republicans want to push forward Republican issues, the rest of us just want to get things done. If the Congress can deliver at the very least a revised healthcare system for the nation, it would certainly help their image. If it is brought about by republicans and democrats together, both could tout their achievements.

Now the Republicans still seem unlikely to reclaim control of either house BUT some of their incumbents would have something to bring back to their constituents come November.

There is also a downside though for both parties. If Bush gets his own plan through it won’t give the democratic presidential candidates an issue to run on. He will steal their thunder. Meanwhile the fiscal conservative side of the Republican field, who had planned on pouncing on the Dems over the issue, will lose an advantage as well.

If the plan isn’t similar to Romney’s & Giuliani’s, will they turn on the president in the summer before the elections? How would this all play out?

The important things to remember if any of this is true are the following:

1) Bush is now beyond party, he has seen his party desert him in many ways and is undoubtedly thinking about his own legacy.
2) The Democratic candidates want this issue. They will fight and demand absolutely no compromises.
3) The Democratic congress which is already elected will want to support the candidates but fear for their own survival.
4) The Republican candidates could go either way. If it passes they could become the leaders of a party which changed America. If it sinks they will carry with them the weight of the failure and possibly turn on the president.

That is my analysis at the moment, though like I said the HHS line might well have been a toss-away and Bush may have no plans at all to bring Universal Health Care to his agenda. we will see though.