Quickie: Howard Dean on Health Care edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

Shorter Howard Dean just now on The Rachel Maddow Show to substitute host Chris Hayes (looking mighty spiffy in his fancy schmancy suit):

"We need a public option. We don't need an individual mandate, although it would be better with one. I'm tired of being pushed around by the far right wing of the Republican party." (slightly paraphrased)

That was today's Quickie. Will you still respect me in the morning?

House Will Vote Once Senate Proves They Have Votes for Health Care

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean was emphatic that the House must pass a bill first. Here's what Tom Harkin says:

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) tells Politico that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to use budget reconciliation to pass fixes to the health care reform bill the Senate passed in December.

The House will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate that they have the votes to pass the reconciliation fixes in the Senate.

Video- Howard Dean on Hardball: "The center left is anti-incumbent. It's the left's tea party."

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean, who is making the rounds today, is on Hardball right now. Chris Matthews seems to take pleasure in needling him, often making ridiculous comments that Dean swats down with some regularity.

Here are some random moments from their conversation:

Howard Dean:

The center left is anti-incumbent. It's the left's tea party.

Matthews asked what Dean's role is in the health care reform battle.

Dean:

I'll talk public option (hopefully one that expands Medicare) until we get one. The House will add to the bill to make it better. The bill will change, because the House won't vote for it until it does.

Matthews made a comment about Dean being a "booster" for President Obama.

Dean:

I'm always a booster of the president whether I agree or disagree.

Matthews:

I don't see the reality of your position emerging here.

Dean:

82% of Dems, 59% of the general public, want a public option. My position is to stand up for that.

Matthews:

Well, we know where he stands. He's for the public option.

Gee, ya think?

ADDED-

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Thom Hartmann talks to Howard Dean about public option, Medicare extension

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean is on the Thom Hartmann Show right now:

He's hoping for expansion of Medicare, a "super public option" as Hartmann put it.

Or as Hartmann also suggested, Medicare Part E, with "E" standing for "Everybody".

Dean: Everyone likes choices. Anthem would be out of business if they raised their rates 39% in California, and we had Medicare option, because it takes Anthem so long to implement the rate changes, and the extension would kick in.

What matters is the order in which the bills are signed. ... House first! We have 30 senators who signed on to supporting a public option, although a weaker one. We'll EASILY get 51-52 votes for this, which would extend Medicare. [I hope I just heard that right] It has to pass the House first, though.

CallCongress.org is the source for contacting your reps. Call your House representatives first, says Dean, or e-mail which is very effective.

Summit VIDEO: Howard Dean's two cents

By GottaLaff

Here you go:

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Hoyer: Public option on healthcare likely dead

By GottaLaff

I've heard the public option is dead, it's alive, it's dead, it's alive so often my head is spinning. Last night on Countdown, Howard Dean was relatively optimistic, saying he thinks the House may put it in, but that expanding Medicare to 55-year-olds would be preferable:

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Steny Hoyer:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Tuesday indicated the public option is likely dead, noting President Barack Obama did not include it in his healthcare proposal. [...]

Hoyer did say the House could again pass a healthcare bill with a public option, and he was quick to mention his own support for the government-run health insurance alternative. But the Democratic leader made a point of noting its omission from the president’s plan and its inability to pass in the Senate. [...]

[H]e indicated he could live with the existing White House framework, which, like the Senate bill, provides for a state-based network of health insurance exchanges in order to foster competition. [...]

In September, Hoyer said Democrats might have to drop the public option if they hoped to pass healthcare reform.

I prefer Dean's Medicare expansion approach. It's clear, it sells since it's easy to understand, and at this point, it has more potential, because the public option has been so watered down.

VIDEOS- Meet the Press: Howard Dean, David Axelrod

By GottaLaff

Here you go, David Axelrod, then Howard Dean:

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David Axelrod v. Howard Dean On Meet The Press

By GottaLaff

The Big Democratic Health Care Kerfuffle goes to MTP:

(click to enlarge)

An NBC spokesperson confirms that Axelrod will be on first, followed by Dean.

I wish the Dems could show a little more brotherly love. The squabbling isn't helping our cause. However...

My DVR will be set, I'll be in front of the Tee Vee Machine, blogging, tweeting, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Except that it will be 8 a.m. Yawn.

Except that I'll hear about it from all the east coasters before I ever get to watch.

But other than that...

H/t: The Plum Line

VIDEO- Sen. Bernie Sanders on Countdown: "When will the opportunity come up again?"

By GottaLaff

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I liveblogged this here.

We need to clone Bernie.

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Countdown: "We look foolish"

By GottaLaff

Senator Bernie Sanders is on Countdown. Liveblog:

Single payer is the only way to get proper health care, but there are some things in bill that are good.

We're working with the White House and the leadership to make the bill significantly better, to try to control costs which are danger to individuals and businesses, as well as the government.

You have 60 in the Democratic caucus, and many have never been serious about strong health care reform. So we had 51 to do something less broad, but significant. We look foolish in front of American people. We don't have 60 votes for strong health care.

Re: reconciliation: I can live with that option. Whether it's feasible is another question, many committee chairmen aren't for it.

Re: Howard Dean: A lot of his criticism constructive, he made good points. But I have to deal with the reality, being a Congress member, what it means politically to this country: When will the opportunity come up again for 30 million people, preexisting conditions, etc? It's not a good bill, but we'll try to make it as good as we possibly can.

Videos- "Spirited" HCR Debate On Morning Joe 12/17/09: David Axelrod, Ed Schultz, Howard Dean

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Anthony Weiner's take on Howard Dean's take on health care reform

By GottaLaff

Liveblog of Rep. Anthony Weiner on Countdown:

Lieberman expects the Stockholm Syndrome to take over. The same people who want to contain costs want to remove public option, that would contain costs.

I think there should be a mandate.

It's been a frustrating experience. We worship at the altar of Snowe, Lieberman and Stupak.

I've been reluctant to draw lines in the sand, and there are good things that remain. But we've lost on 3 points:

Woman's right to choose.

Choice in competition.

[Can't rememberthe 3rd, I'm blanking... anyone?]

I'm keeping an open mind. We are in habit of holding a gun to our own head, negotiating with those who don't want health care.

By waiting for future years, remember what happened 40 years ago. We need to get it right the first time.

Keith - Re: Dean: Don't kill the bill, but get what you want through reconciliation.

I agree, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as Dean. Reconciliation means the majority rules. and we've been hearing that it was a last resort. We are at our last resort time on the calendar here. Time to get 51 votes. If they don't like that, well, it's why we were elected, let's go do that. So in that regard, I agree with Gov. Dean.

VIDEO- Extra spicy Hardball: Howard Dean, Chris Matthews, Mary Landrieu talk health care

By GottaLaff

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I liveblogged this earlier. Now you can watch the sparks fly.

My take on the health care debate here.

Howard Dean on Hardball: liveblog

By GottaLaff

Howard Dean on Hardball right now. Liveblogging a hot and heavy debate:

There are good things in this bill. But I don't like the giveaways to insurance companies. You are mandated to buy insurance, and could be fined. The insurance companies take a ton of money out and put it to non medical expenditures. They can take out more than 30% of the dollars you pay. Most insurance companies aren't as efficient as Medicare.

There are no reforms on insurance. Even if they offer something, you can't afford it.

I would simply expand Medicare via reconciliation. Simple. That's all you have to do.

We have used it 23 times before...

Chris: Not for a federally funded program.

Dean disagrees: Or, you could start all over again in two years.

Chris: That's demagoguery.

Dean: Lieberman's not the issue. He can do what he wants.

Chris: Why are you afraid to take on Liebrman?

Dean: I'm not. I ran against the guy!

Chris: Every time the Dems unite, Lieberman comes up with something on a Sunday show in front of all the cameras... He's like Lucy in Peanuts, pulling the football, and now you won't even take him on.

Dean: I'm not interested in him, I'm interested in health care. The problem is not 60 votes, or Lieberman. The problem is that Dems aren't tough enough. Republicans would have used reconciliation and had it done by now.

Chris: Why not?

Dean: I don't know.

Chris: It's not for creating new programs.

Dean: I'm asking to do what Bush did, not create new programs.

Mary Landrieu is on now, saying the Dems ARE tough enough, but reconciliation is to reconcile budget numbers, and for deficit reduction. There's still plenty to fight for. Medicare will be strengthened, more people will be covered... I don't like everything in the bill, but it's the closest we've come in 40 years. We're still working with Olympia Snowe...

Dean: I'd like to know why you denied my people choice. You wouldn't let us choose another program.

Mary: You never had that choice to begin with. Obama never campaigned on the public option.

Dean: Yes he did. Along with employee benefit package.

Mary: Right now there's an option that Congress uses....

AUDIO- Dean On Health Care: "Kill The Senate Bill"

By GottaLaff

Dean On Health Care: "Kill The Senate Bill", via Vermont Public Radio:

Former Gov. Howard Dean says the Senate health care bill should be killed if it doesn't expand Medicare.

Dean says the time has come for Senate Democratic leaders to kill the current health care reform bill because it's no longer worth supporting.

Dean is upset that the Democrats appear willing to weaken a public option provision in the bill in order to secure the vote of Independent Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman.

If this were the old west, I have a feeling Traitor Joe would have a posse chasing him across the plains, guns a-blazin'.

Ed Schultz disagrees with Howard Dean, by the way. He's saying as much on his show on MSNBC as we speak. He's livid at Lieberman, but doesn't think the bill should be tossed.

Sherrod Brown is saying that he's talked to Lieberman again, "made another plea" and will continue to try.

Medicare Buy-In Proposal Could Begin In 2010

By GottaLaff

Bingo.

Glimmers of encouraging news are sneaking in to the health care mess:

Now, it appears, negotiators are making headway to ensure that the expansion would take place at a far quicker pace than any proposed public option. According to the well-placed source, Democrats are rallying behind a proposal that would allow a portion of the 55-64 year old age group to buy in to the Medicare system as early as 2010. By contrast, a public plan for insurance coverage would not come into being until 2014.

This would be a major breakthrough in the context of negotiations. Former DNC Chairman Howard Dean, who was responsible for pushing the buy-in proposal among Senate Democrats this past week, told Think Progress that he backed the idea, but only if it was available from day one.

There are new caveats. Please go read the rest.

Video- Howard Dean on Reconciliation as the way

My mantra lately? Mow 'em over to the finish line, no more pussyfooting. Amen Dr Dean. Thanks to Taylor Marsh for the vid.

A shocked Ed Schultz: Howard Dean supports opt-out compromise for states

By GottaLaff

What? Howard Dean supports the states' opt-out compromise to a strong public option? That's what Ed Schultz just said, and so I looked it up, since I had trouble believing what I'd just heard. He was right:

There's been a lot of talk today about the opt-out public option compromise we talked about earlier. In a nutshell, the health care reform bill would include a national public option, but states that didn't want to participate could affirmatively choose not to.

Howard Dean obviously won't get a vote on this, but his voice is clearly influential in the process and among reform advocates. He told the Huffington Post today that he'd still prefer a genuine, robust, national public option that's available from day one, but Dean conceded that this compromise is palatable.

"If I were a member of the U.S Senate I wouldn't vote for the [Senate Finance Committee] bill but I would vote for this," Dean said, "not because it is necessarily the right thing to do but because it gets us to a better conversation about what we need to do." [...]

[I]n a wholly political context, he acknowledged, adding the opt-out option to the bill might be the best and only way to get something through the Senate.

"I would like to see that come out of the Senate because it is a real public plan," he said of the opt-out compromise. "Then they can negotiate it [with the House] in conference committee... And if this passes I won't say it is not reform because it is reform.... If this is what it takes to get 60 votes I say go for it."

Noting Dean's leadership on the left on health care reform, Sam Stein added that Dean's support "for an opt-out provision -- however qualified -- is sure to have ripple effects on Capitol Hill."

On a related note, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told MSNBC this morning that the opt-out measure is being "very seriously considered" by Senate Dems, and he's "very optimistic" that there will be "some kind of public option in the bill the president signs." [...]

It seems unfair to punish consumers in deep "red" states, just because they're governed by far-right conservatives.

However:

It's even easier to imagine some states opting out, and then opting back in when they see other states benefiting from the public-private competition.

On The Ed Show just now, John Nichols of The Nation just called the opt-out a "nightmare". He says you end up creating a race to the bottom, not to the top.

Emanuel v. Dean, the Sequel

By GottaLaff

(Yes, another excuse to post The Photo)

Remember how right Howard Dean was, and how wrong Rahm Emanuel was, when the 2008 election argument was 50 State Strategy v. "realism"?

Clang! Round Two, via Mudflats:

Rahm Emanuel, then chair of the DCCC had in the mean time, argued for “realism.” He wanted a more targeted conservative approach, spending resources only in areas where there was a “realistic” chance for success. He went down to Dean’s devastating left hook in the first round.

Now, we’re in the second round. This time it’s the health care debate. Rahm Emanuel has been pushing for a weaker version of reform from the beginning. In his defense, he believes he is focusing on what is doable (nearly the same thing he said during the previous House elections). Emanuel has argued for a trigger from the beginning of the debate and seems to think that a public option is not realistic in this political environment.

Howard Dean has instead argued for a stronger version of health care reform. He believes the country is persuadable (the same position he had in the House elections) and is largely on the side of bolder reform already. He believes the Democratic politicians need to have the courage of their convictions and they can make a real difference.

Once again, Howard Dean is right and Rahm Emanuel is wrong. The voters didn’t vote for a little bit of change. They gave the Democrats the White House and overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate. They voted for real change. The kind of change that Dean always pushes for (and often accomplishes) and the kind of change that Emanuel doesn’t ever find “realistic.”

Emanuel needs to change his definition of realistic. We didn’t elect Obama to fiddle around the edges. We elected him to change the current reality of Washington. We didn’t elect him to figure out the best way to appease the lobbyists; we elected him to figure out the best way to beat them. What Rahm Emanuel doesn’t seem to get is that real change is realistic. You have all this political power. It’s time to use it. If not now, when?

Dean remains standing. Rahm is down for the count.

Video- Howard Dean: If Democrats Pass a Bill Without a Public Option There's Going to be a Huge Backlash