Howard Dean: I'm going to fight for a public option until we get one

[ProSense]

I'm going to fight for a public option until we get one

by Gov Howard Dean MD

I'm going to fight for a public option until we get one. It really is that simple.

The American people want the choice of a public option. I'm going to stand up for what the majority of the American people want again and again and again and I'm going to keep doing it until we win.

Now is not the time to give up and accept less. With 40 Senators on the record in support of passing a public option by majority vote, we've proven that the majority of Senate Democrats are ready to get the job done. All it takes now is leadership. It only takes one senator to offer an amendment from the Senate floor to bring the inclusion of a public option to a vote this year.

So today, we're bringing back the bat.

Democrats in Washington think that if they pass healthcare reform by the end of March, they'll be done no matter what's in the bill. But they're wrong. If the bill doesn't include a public option, we're not going away and we will not forget.

Send Washington a message that they understand.

<...>

We will prevail in this fight this year.

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There are 40 Senators supporting a public option via reconciliation. It's still possible to get it done. Dean knows damn well that the fight doesn't end after current the bill is passed.

[DevonRex]

1. This is democracy in action. And this is how we'll get a public option.

It might not come all in 1 package tied in a pretty bow. It might happen in stages that are messy and imperfect. There will probably be a lot more arguing along the way. Probably? Hell, it's guaranteed that there will be lots of arguing.

But we cannot give up. We can't take our toys and go home just because it didn't all happen at once.

[saracat]

2. Wouldn't it be nice if the WH said that? I actually would support HCR with a decent PO.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Hell, i'd support HCR with a weak-assed PO, if that was the best

we could do. It would still be a foundation, a framework to be built on.

A bill without such a foundation, OTOH, is nothing more than a boondoggle.

[denimgirly]

3. Wish Congress and WH had his Fighting Spirit!

[mochajava666]

5. Love Howard Dean

I would follow that crazy bastard through the gates of Hell. That man is an inspirational leader that radiates integrity.

[JamesA1102]

6. I'm just wondering exactly how he plans to acheive this.

He doesn't hold office so he can't propose legislation. He is no longer DNC Chair so he has no sway there.

[hulka38]

7. It sounds like Dean knows there's a fork in the PO right now

but doesn't want the progressives to despair when we get the news.

I especially like this quote:

"Send Washington a message that they understand. We will prevail in this fight this year. And if Democrats in Washington don't deliver, we will not stop because of their failure of leadership. We will not stop because Democrats in Washington say it's done."

So he clearly puts the blame for failure to pass a PO where it rightly belongs - the Democratic leadership in Washington.