Former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at KC Planned Parenthood Lumcheon December 14, 2015

Kathleen Sebelius and KC Planned Parenthood CEO Laura McQuade

Sebeliis Continues to Blast Brownback February 13, 2015

(AP) – Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says she was surprised and distressed by Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision to rescind an executive order that offered protections for gay, lesbian and transgender state employees.

In a speech at the Dole Institute in Lawrence Thursday, Sebelius also called Brownback’s efforts to eliminate the state’s income tax to increase business and job growth in Kansas “a colossal failure.”

Sebelius said she signed the executive order protecting LGBT state employees in 2007 to signal that Kansas wanted a diverse and talented workforce and was a tolerant state. Brownback rescinded the order Tuesday, saying that such changes should be made by the state Legislature.

The former governor said she’s concerned that the state is on a long-term downward economic spiral because of its multi-million dollar budget deficit.

Politico: How Claire Got on Hillary’s Enemies List January 14, 2014

This is an excerpt from the Politico Report of how Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill angered the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign in 2008.

“When the Clintons sat in judgment, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) got the seat closest to the fire. Bill and Hillary had gone all out for her when she ran for Senate in 2006, as had Obama. But McCaskill seemed to forget that favor when NBC’s Tim Russert asked her whether Bill had been a great president, during a Meet the Press debate against then-Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) in October 2006. “He’s been a great leader,” McCaskill said of Bill, “but I don’t want my daughter near him.”
McCaskill regretted her remark instantly; the anguish brought her “to the point of epic tears,” according to a friend. She knew the comment had sounded much more deliberate than a forgivable slip of the tongue. So did Hillary, who immediately canceled a planned fundraiser for McCaskill. A few days later, McCaskill called Bill Clinton to offer a tearful apology. He was gracious, which just made McCaskill feel worse. After winning the seat, she was terrified of running into Hillary Clinton in the Capitol. “I really don’t want to be in an elevator alone with her,” McCaskill confided to the friend.
But Hillary, who was just then embarking on her presidential campaign, still wanted something from McCaskill—the Missourian’s endorsement. Women’s groups, including the pro-choice women’s fundraising network EMILY’s List, pressured McCaskill to jump aboard the Clinton bandwagon, and Hillary courted her new colleague personally, setting up a one-on-one lunch in the Senate Dining Room in early 2007. Rather than ask for McCaskill’s support directly, Hillary took a softer approach, seeking common ground on the struggles of campaigning, including the physical toll. “There’s a much more human side to Hillary,” McCaskill thought.
Obama, meanwhile, was pursuing McCaskill, too, in a string of conversations on the Senate floor. Clearly, Hillary thought she had a shot at McCaskill. But for McCaskill, the choice was always whether to endorse Obama or stay on the sidelines. In January 2008 she not only became the first female senator to endorse Obama, but she also made the case to his team that her support would be amplified if Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano came out for him at roughly the same time. McCaskill offered up a small courtesy, calling Hillary’s personal aide, Huma Abedin, ahead of the endorsement to make sure it didn’t blindside Hillary.
But the trifecta of women leaders giving Obama their public nod was a devastating blow. Hate is too weak a word to describe the feelings that Hillary’s core loyalists still have for McCaskill, who seemed to deliver a fresh endorsement of Obama—and a caustic jab at Hillary—every day during the long primary season.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/hillary-clinton-hit-list-102067_Page2.html#ixzz2qNWvd5Ap

Obamacare Enrollment 106,000 November 13, 2013

Politico:
Only 106,000 people signed up for coverage in the new Obamacare exchanges as of Nov. 2, administration officials announced in the first official update of enrollment since the law’s disastrous Oct. 1 launch.

One-quarter of those people came through the flawed HealthCare.gov site, which is used by 36 states. The rest selected plans in the 14 states and Washington, D.C., that are running their own health insurance exchanges, most of which are operating much better than the federal site.

The numbers are the first official glimpse of the damage caused by the tech failures with the law’s enrollment portal HealthCare.gov and they fall well short of the administration’s early goal of having about a half-million sign up in the first month. The administration is hoping to get 7 million people signed up in the exchanges and at least 8 million in Medicaid by the time the open enrollment season ends March 31.

Even those first-year goals are arguably modest: there are about 47 million uninsured people in the country, although that includes undocumented immigrants ineligible for Obamacare coverage.

The White House has been tamping down expectations for weeks, warning that they have always expected the first month of enrollment to be low, even before the gravity of the website problems became clear.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius maintained that the system is beginning to work, slowly. “Even with the issues we’ve had, the marketplace is working and people are enrolling,” she told reporters on a call.

“We can reasonably expect that these numbers will grow substantially over the next five months,” she added.

Republicans pointed out that the sign-up numbers are puny compared with the millions of Americans who are receiving cancellation notices and losing the health plans that the president promised they could keep.

“Pretty stunning” is how House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) summed it up on CNN. “Just another day in a series of mess-ups in Obamacare.

Sen. Lamar Alexander said that everyone who had signed up nationwide could fit into the University of Tennessee stadium “and still have room for the ‘Pride of the Southland’ marching band.” He added,” That’s bad news for the 5 million Americans who’ve had their policies canceled by Obamacare.”

Roberts & Gingrich Blast Obama & Sebelius November 8, 2013

Ks Sen. Pat Roberts and Newt Gingrich on the campaign trail in Johnson County.

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts and former house Speaker Newt Gingrich blasted president Obama and health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during a campaign stop in Overland Friday.

Gingrich was campaigning for Robert’s 2014 re-election. He’s seeking his 4th term in the US Senate.

He faces primary opposition from Dr. Milton Wolf, a tea party candidate from Johnson County.

Roberts says winning Johnson County and the 3rd Congressional District is “crucial’ to he re-election effort.

Roberts now says he regret his confirmation vote for his fellow Kansan, Sebelius. He said he did it as a courtesy.

He also says Sebelius should be fired. Roberts added it’s not personal. The Roberts family and the Sebelius family have known each other for years. He once worked for her father.

“It’s based on job performance,” Roberts said.

He criticized Sebelius claiming “she wrote the reg”, stating people who stay on their current insurance under the new healthcare law.

Thousands of Americans have been receiving insurance cancellation notices in recent weeks.

“If there are two people who have deceived America with regards to you can keep your pan, if you like it…(it’s) President Obama and Kathleen Sebelius,” Roberts said.

Gingrich also says if Sebelius tells Congress she should be held accountable, then hold her to that remark, and the President should fire her.

Gingrich says President Obama’s apology for the problems with the healthcare website and program needs to be backed up.

Gingrich says if he’s sincere, Obama should offer to re-open the new law so Congress can adjust it.

“Do you all realize, worldwide, how stupid our government looks right now?” Gingirch asked a roomful of people at the Johnson County GOP headquarters.

“At a time when you can go to Amazon, you can go to Google, you can go to E-bay, you can go anywhere in the world with a credit card and use an automatic teller machine, the government of the United States can’t set up a website?”, he asked.