Previous posts had argued that Sen. Max Baucus might trump Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy in getting universal healthcare on the national agenda, while Kennedy himself tried to overstep President-elect Barack Obama, in Kenndy’s quest for some sort of “legacy.”

Perhaps Kennedy has gotten a blessing from Obama to move forward, with no in-fighting over who saved this poor, unhealthy and underinsured nation from itself.

Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s choice for White House chief of staff, this week urged business leaders to work alongside the Administration in pushing for universal health care.

Meanwhile, Kennedy again grabbed the spotlight. (He HAD the spotlight after penning a Washington Post op-ed, then lost it shortly when Baucus came out with his proposal.) Kennedy says he has several key Democrats on his side, including Sen. Hillary Clinton. Clinton is on the short list for secretary of state under Obama, so perhaps there will be a change there.

Perhaps Kennedy and Obama are on the same page, and all the pundits who predicted that universal healthcare will be dropped a few points on the agenda, are wrong. Perhaps they can fix the economic crisis, the mortgage crisis, the lending crisis, the war in Iraq, and the failing Social Security system, all while overhauling healthcare. After all, Uncle Ted needs his legacy.

The one question that remains is this: After the U.S. has spent nearly a trillion dollars to bail out parts of the economy and turned down the automakers who are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, where in the heck are they proposing to get the money for this “big, serious” effort, as Emanuel calls it?