Zoeller’s take is hardly definitive.   He says the constitutionality of the measure is “at issue” and  says it “could be struck down” in a court challenge.

The Obama priority is under scrutiny because of expanded Medicaid funding in it for the state of Nebraska only.  Zoeller says he is acting at the request of Sen. Richard Lugar and says the review is within his authority.

The review, Zoeller says, will be given top priority.

Enough that it has purchased a two week run of television commercials in Indiana to voice its objections.  Indiana President Ken Zeller says taxing health care benefits, as the Senate bill does, is the wrong way to do reform.  The ad urges Senator Evan Bayh and Senator Richard Lugar to pass reform but don’t tax benefits.

The ad is a national ad.  See it Here:

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/12/07/fix-health-care-rightdont-tax-benefits/

That analysis, he says, shows a $2 billion cost to Indiana state government over the next two years.  1 in 4 Hoosiers will be on Medicaid if the bill passes, he said.  He called it badly flawed legislation and said it would be a “disaster for taxpayers in this state.”

The Senators have been briefed on it.

That’s what Governor Mitch Daniels wrote in a letter to the Indiana Congressional delegation today.  The letter goes on to say that the bill would expand Medicaid, eliminate the Healthy Indiana Plan, and kill jobs.

He encourages Congressmen to follow the lead of Senator Richard Lugar who says now is not the time for health care reform.

When Georgia Democrat Sam Nunn left the Senate, Obama took over his role as Lugar’s teammate in the ongoing effort to keep nukes out of the hands of terrorists.   The two traveled to Russia together for that purpose in 2005.  That same work won Lugar an earlier nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and therefore is familiar to the Nobel committee.  (It was also the subject of campaign ads by Obama last year.)

Lugar may never win the Nobel Prize but you can make the argument that he owns a piece of this one.

That’s the year that Indiana Republican Richard Lugar will be on the ballot, if he chooses to seek another term.  Lugar is now 77 and in his 6th term in the Senate. 

All indications are that Lugar will go for term #7 but there is growing unrest among some Republicans upset with Lugar’s support of Obama moves (including the selection of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court) and his failure to campaign for John McCain last year.

All that put Lugar’s recent statement on health care reform in an interesting light.  When the Senator said this is the wrong time to tackle the President’s pet issue, was that a signal that, indeed, he will run again?  That’s what Parker thinks.

That echoes the sentiments of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar when he visited WISH-TV, recently.  He told me the bill “clearly is being rushed.”  He said Americans are anxious.  They have health care and they’re afraid their care will be diminished as a result of reform.

“Health care was meant to, sort of, wind down expenses while bringing greater coverage.  But, it is hugely expensive.  So, therefore, you get the controversy: should we soak the rich?  Should we tax people who already have insurance and who are getting a little bit of something from their employer?  You know, where do you get the money?”

Congressman Jim Cooper, a Democrat from Tennessee, offered a suggestion on PBS, last night.  He told The News Hour “we’re estimated to waste about $700 billion a year in payments that not only don’t improve our health but actually sometimes harm our health.”  So, Cooper said, “we need to get all the payment from savings from the current system.”

Senator Lugar finds a parallel in the debate over the cap-and-trade debate for climate change.  “Both are running into huge problems,” he said, “because they have huge expenses, however you look at it.”

It’s government action bracketed by two elections.

Barack Obama seeks the change he was elected to deliver in 2008 through cap and trade legislation and health care reform.   He feels he has a mandate.   He is making good on campaign promises, at least attempting to make good. 

Meantime, members of Congress look ahead to the 2010 election and how it will affect them, not Obama.  Rep. Baron Hill (d-Seymour) endorsed Obama early on and supported him on cap and trade.  Now, with Republican Todd Young showing fundraising success in Hill’s 9th District and the GOP questioning campaign contributions to Hill on the eve of the cap and trade vote, he announces opposition to the current health care reform bill.  The President needs to help him now.

Sen. Evan Bayh, enthusiastic in support of Obama at Indiana rallies last year, is suddenly his old, cautious self again.  Republican Senator Richard Lugar beat him to the punch announcing support for Sonia Sotomayor.  Bayh won’t take a public position on cap and trade or health care reform.  The Democrat is on the ballot in 2010 and, though a prohibitive favorite for re-election, is taking no chances.  He’s guy in the spotlight now.

The policy issues of 2009 will be campaign issues in 2010 and Barack Obama is not on the ballot.  But, maybe you already though of that.

“Right now in Washington, Congress is working to fix health care.

And as a doctor, I know what’s most important is that you and I get to

make decisions about your health – not insurance companies.

That’s why you should have a choice. Keep the insurance you have now

or join a new public health insurance plan. With good benefits. At a

price you can afford.

So we’re no longer at the mercy of insurance companies making decisions you and I should be making together.”