Howard Dean made these remarks on Vermont Public Radio last night:
The Senate health care bill in its current form should be scrapped, former Democratic leader Howard Dean said in a radio interview.
"This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate," Dean told Vermont Public Radio. "Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."
While Dean is a strong proponent of a government-run health insurance plan (or "public option") for all Americans, he told the CBS "Early Show" that the Medicare expansion plan represented "real reform." He is now reportedly saying that the bill is not worth salvaging if Democrats leave out both the public option and the Medicare expansion.
http://wcco.com/national/healt...
Of course, Dean forgets the fact that doing such a thing would actually require a backbone, something he tried to infuse at the DNC but since his departure has been sorely lacking. Even such Senators as Russ Feingold who have had no problem finding a spine in the past appear to be behind this. Our current leader, the President of the United States appears more than eager to sell our country and party and the people within down the river to get a hollow "victory":
Mr. Obama, by contrast, said the bill still meets certain goals like controlling health care costs and expanding coverage. Dean said last week on the "Early Show" that "there's not much cost control in this bill."
Of course Mr. Obama will refuse to admit that his total lack of leadership on this has caused folks like Max Baucus and Joe Lieberman to totally gut reforms and give a new massive entitlement to Corporate America instead of solving the healthcare crisis. It would mandate coverage for the American people while still not giving them choice which would truly bring down cost.
As a result, Americans are now fearful of reform and have little enthusiasm for more Corporate Welfare:
A bare majority of Americans still believe government action is needed to control runaway health-care costs and expand coverage to the roughly 46 million people without insurance. But after a year of exhortation by President Obama and Democratic leaders and a high-octane national debate, there is minimal public enthusiasm for the kind of comprehensive changes in health care now under consideration. There are also signs the political fight has hurt the president's general standing with the public.
But Obama and the Democrats have had decidedly less success convincing the public that their health proposals will bring positive change. More than half of those polled, 53 percent, see higher costs for themselves if the proposed changes go into effect than if the current system remains intact. About as many (55 percent) say the overall cost of the national health-care system would go up more sharply. Moreover, just 37 percent say the quality of their care would be better under a new system; 50 percent see it as better under the current set-up.
Even among those who presumably stand to benefit most from a major restructuring of the insurance market -- the nearly one in 5 adults without coverage -- there are doubts about the changes under consideration. Those without insurance are evenly divided on the question of whether their care would be better if the system were overhauled.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
I think it is pretty clear that as Dean has said the current process in the Senate needs to be started over in the House and that it is time to use reconciliation to get the changes we need in the Senate. The new Washington Post poll shows what I have been saying, this bill is political suicide for our party. If it passes and Obama signs it here is hoping that we will see a heated primary in 2012 between Howard Dean and Obama. I would support Dean.
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