Howard Dean on Countdown with David Shuster, discusses health care.

[madfloridian]

Run time: 04:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAh_9j9_Cpk   Posted on YouTube: December 05, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 05, 2009 By DU Member: madfloridian Views on DU: 1124

 
Brief summary:

Sherrod Brown has been a real champion for health insurance reform.

What Tom Carper is doing is "silly"...like the trigger and opt in.

Harry Reid has a decent bill on the floor, not good, but decent.

But if they can't pass it without insurance reform, and there is none in the bill right now..then they should go home or use reconciliation.

Says reconciliation should have been used sooner instead of letting Republicans and 4 Democrats hold up everything.

In response to Shuster, Dean says a trigger is not health care reform. Mentioned the 600,000 that Aetna is dropping.

He says why is it that the senators can't get it in their heads that putting money in the present health care system doesn't work.

Says they should listen to Sherrod Brown, listen to the 56 who want to get real health care and get it done.

Shuster asks about Nelson and the Catholic Bishops. Dean says no religious group should get veto power over legislation.

A lot going on behind closed doors. A lot of people like him are getting real impatient. He thinks this will hurt re-elections in 2010, though he says he thinks Obama will re-elected in 2012.

He says the Democratic base has been incredibly demoralized over this. He doesn't think it will Obama so much as it will hurt Democrats in 2010.

Complimentary of Harry Reid.

[tomm2thumbs]

1. it's at times like this that I wonder how an amplified shout in a crowd undid his chances

He is so smart. When you look at the idiots like Sarah Palin who fall over themselves with stupid mistakes, idiot sound bites and lost logic at every corner... and they keep on going like everyone is on tranquilizers - and Howard Dean? One loud noise filtered through a mic in an overpowering, screaming crowd and - well, you know.

The Democratic Party missed a real opportunity for a smart candidate when Dean left.

[madfloridian]

2. I think it was a deliberate sabotage. He spoke out against TPTB

And the powers that be don't like being called the Republican wing of the party. It was not just the Iowa event, it was done by his own.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

5. The MSM didnt like him

The DLC didnt like him, they used the shout to destroy his candidacy. They still dont like him.

[DFW]

3. As usual--straight talk and common sense from Howard

That grates on a lot of people in Washington who are beholden to outside interests, and the
religious (read: control freak) crowd that wants to have more sway over the government than
the clergy does in Iran or Saudi Arabia.

Howard is basically saying, "get off your asses, don't jump and hide in fear every time some
right winger says 'boo' and DO something for once." It's simple enough, and ignores a few
nuances that go with every such large reform undertaking, but Congress has had the time to
get this together. If Ben Nelson wants to bow down before the Pope, let him, but the constitution
says he can't do it on our time, so he should cut the crap and remind himself that even in
Nebraska there are people who need reform legislation passed or they'll die. If he thinks that
a bishops' conference is more important than the rest of his constituents, he should be voted
out of office in the next Democratic primary, stripped of all health insurance, and be injected
with some chronic incurable disease that leads to painful paralysis if left untreated. I mean it.

Howard has nothing to lose by speaking his mind (if that makes Administration people uncomfortable,
they have to look no further than the office of the WH Chief of Staff to find the responsible party).
He is beholden to no one, and owes no favors. People like that scare the living crap out of Republicans
and Blue Dogs when they speak to and for the people of this country. If they want Howard to quiet
down, all they have to do is what we elected them to do. Howard won't quiet down, but he'll have kinder
words for them, and Howard is someone we'll ALWAYS listen to, as he was speaking to and for us long
before most of the rest of them were.

How ironic that one year after the biggest electoral victory we scored in decades, our strongest and
most eloquent advocate is the man who was shut out of the victory he worked so hard to bring about, and
ignored by those who owe him their seats in the House, the Senate, and the White House.

[madfloridian]

8. Yes, DFW, how ironic indeed.

"Howard has nothing to lose by speaking his mind (if that makes Administration people uncomfortable,
they have to look no further than the office of the WH Chief of Staff to find the responsible party).
He is beholden to no one, and owes no favors."

I just posted in GD about the special interests helping Ben Nelson draft the anti-abortion amendment for the senate. He is allowing the Catholic bishops to help write it.

They quickly forgot how they got the majority.

[swilton]

4. Four Senators are Holding this Up

Who is putting pressure on those senators?

I hope Dean becomes more active in the political process - I do believe that scream that was echoed all over by the MSM was sabotage. He is a threat to special interests.

[rudy23]

6. I think Obama wants Dems to lose in 2010.

Then he can run his center-right presidency with a built in "excuse." The Republicans made me do it.

Look how bad he looks right now advocating this trigger bullshit with no real opposition. Silly, isn't it? It will look a lot more reasonable in 2011 when he "has to" please his corporate donors and keep that money rolling in.

[SandWalker1984]

7. Dean says current bill does NOT have insurance reform.

So why would anyone but members of Congress who are getting paid handsomely for attempting to pass this farce still support it?

Take the few good things from the bill and save them, then dump the rest.

You cannot have mandates to buy private insurance without much better regulation of the insurance corporations, which this bill does not provide.

If you think your insurance company is taking advantage now, wait until you have no other option (especially a public option)!