THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Der Trumpenfuehrer has selected one of the most miserable SOB's in the GOP Congress to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. Despite being a board certified doctor, Tom Price has yet to find anyway to help his fellow humans to better health since entering Congress.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump named a vociferous critic of Obamacare and a health policy expert on Tuesday to help him repeal and replace President Barack Obama's signature healthcare program.

Republican Representative Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, will be Trump's Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, and consultant Seema Verma will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a powerful agency that oversees government health programs and insurance standards.

Trump, a Republican, cast Price and Verma as a "dream team" to help him once he takes office on Jan. 20 with his campaign pledge to repeal Obamacare, the health law formally known as the Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment in 2010, it has been a target of Republican attacks.

Defenders of Obamacare, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, said Price was too extreme. Democrats also criticized the pick because Price has supported barring federal funds for Planned Parenthood, which provides some abortions in addition to birth control, health exams and other services.

"Nominating Congressman Price to be the HHS secretary is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house," Schumer said.

The 2010 healthcare overhaul, aimed at expanding insurance coverage to millions more Americans, triggered a long, bitter fight between the White House and congressional Republicans, who said it created unwarranted government intervention in personal healthcare and private industry.

Trump has said he will replace Obamacare with a plan to give states more control over the Medicaid health plan for the poor and allow insurers to sell plans nationally.

Both Price and Verma will need Senate confirmation in their positions, and the Trump administration will need congressional approval to repeal and change the health law.

Price's history would indicate that his understands the Hippocratic Oath to say, First do as much harm as you can. We can only imagine how much destruction he will do with Human Services since they mostly help people too poor for him to notice. And Vermin worked with Pence, which is as damning a resume line as you can get. But Trump continues to fill his cabinet with clones of Grima Wormtongue at every turn.