The U.S. government wants you to know the H1N1 swine flu vaccine is safe.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius blanketed morning television talk shows with basically the one message. “This definitely is a safe vaccine for people to get,” she said on NBC’s “Today” show, urging the public to visit flu.gov.

People are worried, but how much depends on which poll you look at.

A Consumer Reports survey last month found that nearly two-thirds of American parents said they would hold off having their children vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu or wouldn’t get them immunized at all, expressing wariness about whether the new vaccine had been tested enough.

A Harvard School of Public Health survey earlier this month found that 75 percent of parents would get the swine flu vaccine for their children.

“This flu is a younger person’s flu, kids have no immunity to this flu,” Sebelius said.

It’s going to be a long day for Sebelius. She did the morning TV talk show rounds and will do late-night television tonight appearing on the Jay Leno Show.

And healthcare wrangling continues on Capitol Hill. The Senate Finance Committee is awaiting the cost estimate on healthcare reform legislation from the Congressional Budget Office, which could clear the way for a committee vote this week (where have we heard that before?).

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Photo credit: Reuters/Frank Polich (nurse gives H1N1 flu vaccine to two-year-old boy in Chicago)

Senate Democrats will take up healthcare again today after a tough week.

Republican opposition is building after independent auditors estimated their initial efforts could cost more and cover fewer than initially hoped, reducing the chance of winning the bipartisan support that could ensure that any reforms will last.

Republican Sen. John McCain gave Reuters a grim prognosis last Friday and said the next few days will determine whether the effort succeeds or fails.

But Democratic Sen. Max Baucus still thinks he can get a bipartisan bill to President Obama by the end of the year.

Today, the Senate Health Committee, which is working on a bill that is likely to be less Republican-friendly than Baucus’s effort, will resume work on its bill at 3 p.m.

Folks at the White House have healthcare on the agenda today as well.

President Obama will sign a bill that establishes significantly tougher tobacco regulations in a Rose Garden ceremony.

And Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and two other White House officials appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to rebut Republican claims that their plan will lead to greater bureaucracy and a reduced level of care.

photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Obama apeaks tothe American Medical Association in Chicago, June 15)

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Protesters hijacked April Fools Day, spinning it into “Financial Fools Day” in London where President Barack Obama and other world leaders are attending the G20 summit.

Meanwhile back at the Palace, Obama and wife Michelle are invited for tea with the Queen. Will the first lady’s curtsy meet muster?

A little detente is in the air. The United States and Russia saying they will pursue a new deal to cut nuclear warheads as the former Cold War rivals try to rebuild relations after the recent chill.

No Joke ahead:

– Beware the computer Conficker worm on the loose

– Another Obama Cabinet pick, another tax problem (Kathleen Sebelius for health and human services secretary)

–U.S. dropping all charges against former Senator Ted Stevens

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Photo credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett (Queen Elizabeth leaving palace in December)

RALEIGH, North Carolina - Barack Obama won’t say yet who his running mate will be but on Tuesday he did describe the qualities he wants in a vice president.

Briefly put: “he” will be the opposite of Dick Cheney, the man who currently holds the office.

“My vice president will be a member of the executive branch, he won’t be one of these fourth branches of government where he thinks he’s above the law,” Obama told a crowd in North Carolina.

Note the choice of pronoun. An Obama spokeswoman said not to read into that word choice but Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton — two women said to be on the Illinois senator’s list — may want to take note.

Obama went on to describe what he was NOT looking for in a running mate, painting a stark contrast with Cheney, who spearheaded President George W. Bush’s energy task force, influences White House foreign policy, including the Iraq war, and has claimed to be a member of the legislative branch because of his tie-breaking role in the U.S. Senate.

“I won’t hand over my energy policy to my vice president,” Obama said. “I won’t have my vice president engineering my foreign policy for me.”

Moving on to the qualities he did want, Obama said, “I want somebody who has integrity, who’s in politics for the right reasons. I want somebody who is … independent, somebody who is able to say to me, ‘You know what, Mr. President? I think you’re wrong on this and here’s why.’”

Cheney, considered a nemeses by many Democrats, has been described as one of the most powerful vice presidents in U.S. history.

Obama is expected to announce his choice for vice president in the next few days.

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 - Photo credit, left: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama and Clinton prepare to board a plane in June after she dropped out of the Democratic presidential race.)

 - Photo credit, right: Reuters/ Jason Reed (Obama embraces Sebelius after she endorsed him in January.)