Howard Dean: Health bill hangs Dem incumbents and Obama out to dry in elections

[cali]

By Michael O'Brien - 03/04/10 11:22 AM ET

Passing the healthcare proposals before Congress will "hang out to dry" every Democratic incumbent running for reelection this fall, Howard Dean said Thursday.

Dean, a physician by training who's a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), said that Democrats in Congress -- and President Barack Obama -- would do themselves more harm than good by passing the current healthcare bill.

"The plan, as it comes from the Senate, hangs out every Democrat who's running for office to dry -- including the president, in 2012, because it makes him defend a plan that isn't in effect essentially yet," Dean said during an appearance on the liberal Bill Press Radio Show.

Dean, who has clashed publicly with the White House over the healthcare proposals favored by the administration, said that by passing the bills under consideration, Democrats would essentially be conceding defeat to Republicans.

"It's easy to campaign on repealing something if no one knows what the something is," Dean said. "And fundamentally people don't understand what the president's healthcare plan is."

"And if it passes next week and get's signed into law the week after, we're not going to be able to explain it to people over the din of Fox News and the Republicans," the former Democratic party chairman added.

Dean said that the only solution to correct the bill was to offer a buy-in to Medicare for consumers, which had once been proposed in the Senate, but was ditched by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as unable to win enough votes to pass.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/84969-howard-dean-health-bill-hangs-dem-incumbents-and-obama-out-to-dry-in-elections

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Once again, Dr. Dean tells it like it is.

Now watch all the DLC'ers come out to bash him, for the rest of this week.

Fuck this shitty bill. Anyone who votes for this corporate welfare mandate BS deserves to lose their election.

[bluestateguy]

2. Every day its a shifting set of instructions from Howard Dean about how to handle HCR

It's getting very annoying.

[tavalon]

5. He's voicing his opinion and his opinion just happens to hold more

weight than ours.He's not giving you marching instructions and if you think he is, you want to talk to your doctor about the voices in your head.

[depakid]

8. Nothing inconsistent about what he's said at all

If the Democrats don't pass a health care bill AND provide tangible results and benefits to people prior to the election(s)- they've screwn the pooch.

Not sure why anyone wouldn't understand- or would disagree with that assessment.

Seems pretty straight up to me.

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

[tavalon]

4. Good to see Dr. Dean matches my point of view

I've decided not to rise to the bait this time. I've had it with the Dog and Pony show. They've played it one too many times.

[eridani]

6. Indeed. Without some kind of immediate payout--

--every goddam thing that remains wrong with health care will be the fault of Democrats.

[girl gone mad]

7. Dr. Dean is dead right.

Reform, as it stands now, will be a breeze to run against.

[mmonk]

9. That is correct essentially.

Having it out so far into the future allows it to be defined in anyway possible. The Democrats are not very good at defining anything.