It's not Barack Obama's pick of Tom Daschle to be his health care reformer that we should all be sorry about. It's his brand of healthcare reform.

Former Senator Tom Daschle’s withdrawal from consideration to head the Department of Health and Human Services has everyone talking about responsibility. Not paying your taxes is bad, but responsibility, when it comes to quality healthcare, would be to ensure that every American had real access to it. Obama's mistake wasn't misjudging Daschle -- his mistake is to continue to push a private plan.

Daschle has received hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking gigs and consulting from private healthcare companies since he left the Senate in 2005. That's not a good sign for a health care reformer. But it's nothing in comparison to the billions those companies have at stake in profits if health care is truly deprivatised.

There is an alternative. Single payer healthcare. According to a study released January 14 by the California Nurses Association, adopting a single payer system of universal health care would create 2.6 million new jobs, and boost the revenues of private employers by an annual $317 billion. A single payer health care system would put more than $100 billion in the pockets of employees and add $44 billion to state, local and federal budgets. Moreover it's supported by a majority of physicians, the American public, and local labor unions throughout the country.

But is it talked about by the pundits and the politicians now so upset about Daschle? Not enough. There is another Obama health pick still to come, but he offers no relief. The leading candidate for Surgeon General is Sanjay Gupta, another big name on the speakers circuit - and oh yes, a high-profile foe of single payer health care.