Dean: Senate Health Care Compromise a "Positive Step" - "Real Reform"

[jefferson_dem]

Dean: Senate Health Care Compromise a "Positive Step"
Posted by Daniel Carty



The new health care compromise hammered out among Senate Democrats isn't perfect but it represents a "positive step forward," former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said on CBS' "The Early Show" Wednesday.

Liberals appear ready to drop their demands for a public option in order to assuage moderate Democrats and get the 60 votes needed to avoid a Republican filibuster. The revamped legislation would reportedly set up a private insurance plan overseen by the same government agency that controls lawmakers' insurance. It would also expand Medicare, lowering the qualifying age from 65 to 55.

Dean, who previously chaired the Democratic National Committee, said Medicare expansion "makes a lot of sense because you don't have to reinvent another bureaucracy to do it."

"This is what should have been done in the first place," he told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, who noted that Dean had insisted in August that reform must include a public option.

Dean said the compromise solution still represents "real reform."

"Whatever we call it is irrelevant. Is it going to work? Yes, it is."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/12/09/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5948676.shtml

[backscatter712]

1. Watch the DU doomster squad howl "DEAN'S A TRAITOR!!!"

Can't get in the way of their pity party, can we?

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. He's not a traitor. But he's a loyal Dem. He's not going to torpedo healthcare.

I prefer waiting to see what is in the bill myself, and hearing what Sanders thinks about it.

[tavalon]

3. Actually, I was going to say.....

Well, I will have to give this compromise a second look because I respect Howard Dean more than almost any politician and if he considers it a step in the right direction, I might just be wrong in my assessment.

I am furious at my party right now but there are a couple who have such street cred with me, I don't diss their point of view. They can actually make me reconsider mine.

[jefferson_dem]

5. ...

:thumbsup:

Your post made me smile.

[patrice]

9. I can trust Dr. Dean, unlike so many others. He has nothing personally to gain or lose.

[OneGrassRoot]

11. That's how I feel and why I pay attention to him

I just wrote this at another threat, regarding Dr. Dean:


Without a doubt, he is disappointed in how this has played out, though probably not surprised.

Since he -- unlike elected officials -- has no stake in this, per se, his is the voice I'm following the closest.

I suppose it's like all corrupt negotiations: You start off with the best-case scenario and go from there. We all agree we didn't start off with our ultimate scenario, single payer. Howard Dean has pushed for the best-case scenario in his mind all along.

And we're ending up with something far removed from that, most likely.

So, it comes down to whether he feels what we're ending up with is HARMFUL or a potential opening. Either way, it's far from what we here ultimately want, but if he isn't sending vibes out that it's harmful and instead that it is a possible opening to expand it over the years to get it where we DO want it and where it SHOULD be, that is something. Not much, but something, to provide solace.

Yes, we're down to the typical DC clusterfuck scenario where the citizens are weighing whether or not what the politicians are doing is MORE HARMFUL than the current situation, versus the potential for it to gradually get better.

I keep hearing people say this is what happened with SS and Medicare. Democrats were so upset that it covered so few people at first....but huge change just doesn't seem possible in this country, not without a dictatorship. I, too, wish Obama would have come on stronger with this. Maybe he still will at the last minute, after allowing everyone rope to hang themselves with.

I hope so.

We'll see.

[tavalon]

12. I trust what people have done more than what they say

Obama has taught me that in one short year. I still listen to his speeches because he is really, really good at it and it doesn't hurt my ears and allows my heart to soar for a moment or two. But little that has been said has translated to anything much. He is reminding me of another Clinton, a speechifier extraordinaire, but a corporatist, through and through. Dean had ideas he spoke of and then he implemented them and it was good. Then the current administration shit on him and it was bad.

[patrice]

8. Most of it is theater.

[stray cat]

4. From what I've seen so far I think Howard Dean has it right - he usually does

[stray cat]

6. Dean is an honest person before he is a loyal democrat - all politicians and people should be

[Zodiak]

10. He is fairly honest, true

But he has been wrong before, and he has jumped the gun with his support before.

Remember when he said "this is a good bill" and then reneged when he found out more details later? Here on DU, the moderates were all loving on Howard Dean when he made the initial statement, posting it all over the place with snarky comments to the liberals here (kind of like the push I am seeing today), and when Dean changed his mind, they accused him of flip-flopping.

We shall see if Howard keeps singing the praises of this legislation. The next few weeks will really tell the story.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. That's true....

Our instant gratification, knee-jerk mentality in this country, especially with the 24/7 news cycle, lends itself to people giving opinions without having all the facts.

I'll be paying attention to what Dr. Dean says over the next few weeks.

:)

[BeyondGeography]

7. I guess that means Obama hasn't failed on health care, according to to Dr. Dean

[Clio the Leo]

14. I've got check marks this morning all over my....

"Dean/Schumer/Rockefeller" litmus test list.

I'm just waiting on Anthony......

[Algorem]

15. He changed his mind in one week?

[WI_DEM]

16. Bernie Sanders didn't reject it either.

[Bullet1987]

17. I disagree with Dean on this...and I wonder whether he truly believes it himself

or is he just pushing the party line. This is FAAR from real reform!