***Obama taps AL Doctor as Surgeon General***

[QueDLux]

The AP reports that President Obama has tapped Alabama doctor Regina Benjamin, famous for her work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as his pick for Surgeon General.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_surgeon_general

 

[QueEx]

Well I'll be damn! I know Regina, well.

Good luck to her.

QueEx

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Senate committee to vote next week
on Regina Benjamin nomination</font size></center>

Mobile Press Register
By SEAN REILLY
Washington Bureau
October 02, 2009


WASHINGTON — Although her prospects are now tangled up in an unrelated Medicare dispute, the Senate health committee plans to vote next week on Dr. Regina Benjamin's nomination for U.S. surgeon general, a committee spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.

President Barack Obama chose Benjamin, the founder of a Bayou La Batre health clinic, for the job as the nation's top health educator in mid-July.

If the committee signs off Wednesday, Benjamin's nomination will go to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.


<font size="3">Stall Ahead</font size>

Last Thursday, however, a group of eight Republican senators vowed in a letter to stall approval of Obama's picks for top health posts until the Medicare standoff is settled.

The eight, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, accused the administration of attempting to silence contractors for Medicare's Advantage program from communicating their views of the potential impact of health care legislation with Medicare recipients.

Earlier last week, the Department of Health and Human Services had called on the companies to suspend "potentially misleading mailings to beneficiaries about health care and insurance reform."

In a news release, the agency singled out circulars from Kentucky-based insurer Humana, which said proposed Democratic changes could hurt Medicare Advantage and urged recipients to contact members of Congress.

Humana stopped the mailings Sept. 11 and is working with the department's Medicare arm to resolve the matter, the company said in a statement.

But the larger issue of a "blanket gag order" remains unsettled, McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said Thursday. Until it is, the GOP will keep Benjamin's nomination from coming to a vote by the full Senate, even if the health committee approves it, he indicated.

Also signing the letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming, the health committee's top Republican. However he votes on Benjamin's nomination Wednesday, "he's going to stand firm to the commitment he made in that letter," spokesman Michael Mahaffey said.

Neither Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, nor Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, signed on.

In a Thursday statement, Sessions said he backs Benjamin's nomination but that the Medicare issue "is of such importance that I must support Senator McConnell's position." Ultimately, he added, "these concerns will be dealt with, and, in time, her nomination will move forward."

Shelby staked out a similar stance. While he believes Benjamin is qualified, spokesman Jonathan Graffeo said in an e-mail that his boss "also believes that the Republican leadership has a legitimate and important point."

Since Obama announced her nomination, Benjamin has drawn criticism from some circles for her weight and for serving as a paid adviser to Burger King.

Under a standard administration policy for nominees awaiting Senate confirmation, she is barred from talking to the media. She did not return a phone call left at the clinic Thursday.

http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1254474967238790.xml&coll=3

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><Center>
Regina Benjamin Confirmed as Surgeon General </font size></center>

Dr. Regina Benjamin


By BET.com Staff
November 2, 2009


When Dr. Regina Benjamin was confirmed as U.S. surgeon general last week, she became only the third African American and second Black woman to serve as America’s No.1 doctor.

The Alabama native, who earned the unanimous consent of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress’ upper chamber Thursday night, is "a relentless promoter" of programs to fight preventable illness, President Obama said in July when he nominated her.

Benjamin, 53, worked tirelessly taking care of poor patients in a Gulf Coast clinic she founded two decades ago in Alabama, The Associated Press reports. She was the first Black woman to serve on the board of the American Medical Association, and served a term as chairwoman of the group's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, according to AP.

After earning a bachelor’s from Xavier University of Louisiana in 1979, she attended Morehouse School of Medicine, and received a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1984. She completed her residency in family practice at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in 1987.

Benjamin is the third Black surgeon general. Dr. Jocelyn Elders was appointed by President Clinton in 1993, but he fired her a year later under pressure from conservatives who complained about her statement that masturbation should be taught to youths in an effort to deter riskier forms of sexual activity. Dr. David Satcher served as surgeon general under both Clinton and President George W. Bush, during his first term.

http://www.bet.com/News/National_Re...ferrer={0471DDF0-D0D8-48A8-9E30-ADD40CBE0269}

 

[thoughtone]

Claiming she wasn't fit for the position because she is 'over weight' is as clear a sign of racism as there ever was.