Dean on CBS: "if we can't get the whole thing, we can get some good stuff done before the election"

[madfloridian]

Run time: 02:32 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXo-4UXIb64   Posted on YouTube: January 22, 2010 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: January 22, 2010 By DU Member: madfloridian Views on DU: 1067

 
Here is more about the interview:

Dean tells Harry Smith that health care reform is not dead yet

Dr. Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and governor of Vermont, told "Early Show" anchor Harry Smith that the movement to reform health care is not dead, because the American people want it. "What they didn't want was something that was written by the insurance industries," he said, "and this is a very Washington-centered proposal that finally came over to the House.

..."Dr. Dean said he backs running the House and Senate bills through reconciliation, rather than starting from scratch, but he was not optimistic that Republicans would contribute to the process. "John Boehner, the minority leader, that they weren't going to vote for anything that we proposed," he said. "Republicans are using this as a tactic to kill health care to embarrass the president. That's not the right thing to do for America — America does need some real insurance reforms.

"You could simply expand the Medicare program that everybody knows to people who are over 55 instead of 65. The House and the Senate passed very good expansions in Medicaid which helps young people, for example, and hard working people with no insurance. Those are the kinds of things that you can do. And we can run those through reconciliation. The chairman of the Budget Committee said he'd be willing to look at things in the budget bill.

"I think if we can't get the whole thing, we can get some good stuff done before the election," Dr. Dean said.

In November Dean had an interview with Dylan Ratigan in which he pointed out that Democrats will have problems in 2010 without something to offer in health care.

I agree with that. I think people in both parties expect something tangible.

[bluestateguy]

1. Well

Dean, wanted the Senate bill killed.

His wish has been granted now.

[PassingFair]

2. The Senate Bill sucked ass.

Mandates with no cost controls would have sunk our party.

[still_one]

3. It is easy for anyone to sit on the side lines and criticize, it is far more difficult to get

something done in this extremely difficult environment. That comment isn't just about Howard, but about everyone who believes that you can just wave a magic wand and make it happen

To see how easy it is just watch how easy the financial proposals Obama proposed are greeted by Congress

Wall Street, and big business hates them. Ironically, we may have more problems with some Democrats in Congress such as Dodd, than republicans to get this through

and these are reasonable suggestions

[Mithreal]

5. Keep pumping up that magic wand metaphor. Accept the lies and excuses.

Oh for shame, bailouts of the Too Big To Fail Insurance giants are going to fail. Oh we won't be able to try again. Oh we couldn't expect anything better. But but the hostages for gawd sakes. But we promised PhRMA and Big insurers we could do this. But, but we needed 60 votes, we needed Republican support. We needed cover to sell out the people. If we delay even months it will be harder to transfer more wealth to the already too powerful. Don't you know we can't rely on the little people's donations again and we must cater to the masters with the deep pockets. If we wait, the insurance companies might collapse under their own enormous obesity. They must feed, they must consume. Profits first, no quarter to the people. It was the best we could do. For shame, for shame.

Watch out for all the people who will make excuses we can't have a simpler bill that won't take an army of marketers to trickster the average American. Look at the campaign donations. Some leading our party have ZERO shame.

Snake oil salesman be damned.

[madfloridian]

6. "sit on the sidelines and criticize"????

What a pathetic comment that is on what should be the Democratic process. We should all be watching and having our say.

Dean cares about the fact they sold out to insurance companies, and he has a right to speak.

[Mithreal]

8. Oddly "still" can be taken to mean motionless, very apt monicker

Of course, there is another interpretation referring to a certain political membership.

[still_one]

12. You misrepresented by entire comment thank-you. The same thing people do

with Dean. I never said people should not express their views, I simiply said that getting things done, is not easy

There is a reasonable proposal being proposed for financial reforms, including not allowing any bank to be to big to fail, and not to allow them to risk investments. It is an outrage that Goldman was made a bank to get bailout funds

In this financial proposal the Democrats in Congress may actually be more of a problem than the repulbicans. That is my POINT, nothing is easy

Financial reform is a very popular issue, HCR with a public option is a very popular issue, is Congress receptive?

[Mithreal]

14. still_one, if you don't want people to "misrepresent" your comments

then please be more clear and refrain from conservaDem rhetoric like magic wands, it's so hard excuses, and side lines recriminations.

President Obama has been bff with Wall Street and Big Business and has lost credibility. He is going to have to come out guns blazing if he wants a return of the trust we once gave him and even that won't be enough. I never intend to trust him again, doesn't mean I won't continue pushing and hoping. At this moment, his political capitol has been spent. I truly am sorry.

[madfloridian]

15. I used your own words.

Perhaps you chose them poorly.

[reggie the dog]

13. I think Howard Dean is working and

knows you dont need a magic wand, you need a party to propose single payer national health care, then let the Repubicans philibuster and then tell the public, who seem to want health care like people get in most other wealthy countries, that the Republicans are stalling progress and encourage the public to shun people stalling the progress. Likely this would have let the voters see that they had to help oppose those who opposed reform. The Democrats proabably would have picked up enough senate seats in 2010 to vote anything they wanted with ease.......and forced the centrists in their own party to actually vote with the liberals, who are a majority of the party's base anyway.


But yeah, I am sure Howard Dean would not think like that, he thinks he and only he has a magic wand, that is why he opposed the senate bill in its shit form....

[Skink]

4. Seems like it is a budget item so why not use reconciliation.

[Mithreal]

7. Would be so uncivilized, wouldn't want to act like barbarians.

I am with you.

:kick:

[BennyD]

9. Here's a video of Howard Dean saying "...the public option is dead..."

here's a link to the VIDEO of Howard Dean saying, "Let's be real about this for a minute, the public option is DEAD this year no matter what happens."

Move the slider on the video to the 7-minute mark.

[madfloridian]

11. It IS dead.

And we won't get a Medicare expansion cause the Conservadems want to phase it out to give it all to the private insurance companies.

I am quite sure Dean knows that as we all do.

But sometimes it is important to keep speaking out even though no one cares anymore.

[mzmolly]

10. I love Dean, but Lieberman said he would not support a medicare

expansion. So how do we do this?

[Bette Noir]

16. Budgetary matters only require 51 votes.

We can't get a public option by budget reconciliation, because that's a whole new program which would require a new bureaucracy. Medicare, on the other hand, is already in place. Expanding it to cover more people is a budget matter, and suitable to be addressed in budget reconciliation, with a simple majority needed for passage, no filibuster allowed.

[JI7]

17. take power away from Lieberman

not that that itself would do it. but Lieberman should not be treated as a member of our party.

[FedUp_Queer]

18. Well...if the people had only given the Democrats

Majorities like this, we'd have health care:

House
256 Dems
178 GOP

and

Senate
57 Dems
41 GOP
2 Independents

Oh wait...they already do. If a GOP NINE SEAT MINORITY in the Senate and SEVENTY-EIGHT SEAT MINORITY can completely stall any Democratic Agenda, what exactly is the purpose of, say, voting Democratic? Having elections? Just askin'.