Howard Dean: Washington Is More Resistant To Change Than Anything "Except A Few Religious Cults"

In an interview with Esquire magazine, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean (author of a new book, "Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care Reform," explained why there was so much resistance to a public health care option.

ESQ: Speaking of the Obama plan, you're even stronger than he has been lately in support of the public plan. You say that without it, it's not reform.

HD: It's not. It's a waste of time. Don't pretend you're going to do health-insurance reform unless you're really going to change the system. The discussions in the Senate have not been about changing the system.

ESQ: They seem to be worried about preserving the status quo.

HD: Washington is the most conservative town in America. Its culture is the most resistant to change except a few religious cults.

Yesterday, Dean responded to reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was pushing for a public option that would be triggered by future conditions. "I think that a public plan with triggers is not a real public plan and it is going to be a trillion dollar failure," Dean said. "Anyone who thinks a trigger is going to lead us to a good place five years from now is wrong... It is not a sensible policy compromise."

Read the full interview here.

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Comments

[stewiegriffinsrealmom]

I know this really isn't "on topic", but is dental care being brought up in this debate over single payer vs. private insurance deal?

If you think that people have horrible medical insurance, then the problem is even worse with dental insurance. My husband is on active duty, and even the military has horrible dental coverage for dependents. Even on active duty, while my care was free and there were some really great dentists that I saw, the things I needed done could not be done due to missions, lack of providers (especially overseas), etc.

People only think of health as being about doctors and nurses, but dental health is very important, too. I just hope someone is thinking about that angle as well.

Just something to think about.

[levibatgirl]

Agreed. I have thought of this often.

[wisecrack]

Good question - it's not covered under Medicare, is it?

[naschkatze]

No.

[pissedmichael]

Absolutely correct. Did you know that most insurance companies will not cover hearing aids? I know this from personal experience. The good ones are offered at between $1500.00 to $2500.00--each. There's no deductible, there's no nothing covered, period. How about prescription eyeglasses? Their covered in the most limited way possible. They'll pay for the cheapest frames possible and if you want a better quality (nothing to do with cosmetic appearance--just durability and superior materials), you pay the difference. With the exam, frames, and lenses they might pay 50% and you can be stuck with hundreds to pay yourself--in addition to paying the premiums.
You're right, these issues need to be addressed also. Your revelations about dental health are right on and those costs can be insurmountable for someone with no insurance. I know several people who don't have any teeth left and can't afford dentures--while others have dentures, but are so ill-fitting they are unable to bear the pain of wearing them.
Yeah, this country definitely needs an attitude change among political office holders, not to mention our willingness to pay billions to a system that has anything but our best interests at heart (sorry, couldn't think of a substitute for 'heart').

[RuWii]

In canada they get dental and even coverage for eye glasses. USA is being scammed into the ground. Believe it.

[naschkatze]

Absolutely. Good teeth are central to good health.

[pissedmichael]

They do have something of a system where you can use a 'dentist in training' for the most basic dental care like having your teeth pulled--sans pain killer. Just like going to a beauty college to get your hair done.

[lornejl]

dem voters freaked at the Dean Scream.
Most dem voters have as much backbone as Harry Reid.

[mouselion]

Good point.

[naschkatze]

I have read that the MSM amplified the sound of the scream as they replayed it ad nauseam.

[OlongapoEd]

It probably no longer exists, but the unedited version of "the scream" shown soon after the incident revealed that "the scream" was barely audible over a great deal of audience noise. The MSM suppressed the audience noise, they didn't amplify Dean.

[woody7]

I watched it , and as a Dem, I found nothing wrong with what he did?

[HelloooCanada]

people's reaction to that scream, dukakis in the tank, and people calling bill bradley "boring" have been the most annoying incidents in my adult, political experience, so i agree.

at the end of the day, it was indeed democrats' reactions to those incidents which doomed them.

[who38]

Hear, hear. Makes you wonder what it is about Obama that resulted in their not doing the same to him.

[revhatchell]

religious cults bad.

innerdimensional space cults are where it's at.

mk-cultra!

[mouselion]

innerdimensional - is that, like, in your head?

[PINO]

Obama presidential approval index slips to minus 5. OMG. A minus 5!

Today, Obama's Rasmussen Approval Index hits a new low -- a dramatic drop from his previous low of -2.

Given Rasmussen's practice of using a three-day moving average, and yesterday's AI of -2, Obama's AI would have to have been below -5 for at least one of the past three days, possibly as low as (yikes!) -11.01.

It's looking like obama will be another Lame Duck President.

[lornejl]

You make no point, is that why you post, to not make a point ?

[KarenT]

Instead of looking at a biased poll, why not look at realclearpolitics which looks at an average of many polls including the right wing Rasmussen. Obama is still doing great.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html

[tre]

Negative 5!? That's actually higher than I thought!

[OfficialA]

You mean Rasmussen of Cato Institute fame?

[Waltb31]

Dean should have been chosen HHS Secretary.
There is no compromise. We MUST have a single payer system.
Anything less, including the public option, will NOT improve health care or rein in costs.

[digdeeper]

Good on ya Howard Dean. A few more like you in DC and there might be some change.

[Macready]

agree with you Waltb31

[naschkatze]

He never would have been though.

[Dale Larson]

I'm actually glad Dean is not HHS Secretary. I think he might have been reined in had he been in the administration. Now he runs at the issue head on and doesn't have to hold back.

[who38]

Good point.

[dragonmaster]

Dean is real change

Obama----empty suit and rhetoric-plus egomaniac

[vinny]

f/ somebody below: obama is chump change

[CitizenZoe]

Sorry to disagree, but most of you seem to have taken up the "public option" banner and have no clue how health care really works. I am all for progressive change, but gov't run and managed health care is not a good answer or even a real answer. How on Earth could we create a single payer system without ruining our current system and bankrupting ourselves in the process??

[vinny]

good question, worth discussing.

[BCLance]

Actually, the question shows that she doesn't even understand the terms she's using.'

[Waltb31]

Ruining our system? where have you been?
If you are healthy, chances are you have not had to use your insurance. Between what is not paid for, the pre-existing illness provisions, and CEO salaries, the vast majority of so-called private insurance is pure garbage with high deductibles and no true benefits.
Medicare is a far better insurance than ANY private insurance. Period.

[vinny]

you might want to shop around then...

[lornejl]

You are a fraud, I'm calling you out, fraud.

[naschkatze]

Any time someone writes, "I'm all for . . . but", it's a clue to stop reading. I've really seen a lot of that on the DADT and DOMA threads.

[Gainsbourg69]

Want to pay for single payer? Draw down on military spending. We don't need to spend more than the whole world combined for defense..

[BluestateGuyInTX]

Bingo! We never hear either side mention how expensive the military industrial complex is. Never!! All we hear is how expensive it would be to take care of everyone's health in this country. We think nothing of spending trillions to subjugate other nations but when it comes to actually benefiting the people of our own nation we just don't have the money. We deserve our pain because as a nation we are vicious toward other nations and callous toward our own citizens. What a piece of work we Americans are.

[who38]

And draw down on foreign aid to increase domestic aid. Stop funding big Pharma and big Farma.

[osocubano]

What current system?

[spandautoseattle]

When the politician who organized the miracle of 2008 did not get the call to participate in the new administration it was a hint that an honest will for change was lacking.
Instead of being represented the People have to struggle uphill against the very pols they elected.
Hopefully the House-elections of 2010 will see the appropriate response to the old-style politics, and the call to HD to return to administrative work, this time in DC.

[SomeOtherDude]

FYI: The "publis option" is the dame compromise!!! I want single payer!

[MarinafromMaine]

So right on. I don't understand why Dean was not chosen to lead the charge for health care reform. And I'm beginning to think that he would have been more courageous than Obama on issues important to me had he been elected.

I just attended a health care forum led by representatives from my Congressman, Mike Michaud, and one from Organizing for America. We took a poll, and 92% of the people there felt that single payer was the only health care option that would actually save money and be successful. Yet advocates for single payer are not even at the table.

[vinny]

single payer was not part of the democratic platform.

[BluestateGuyInTX]

Who cares! It needs to be done. And eventually we will end up having to do it. I just wonder how far down the tubes we will have to be before we come to our senses and stop listening to the right wing ideologues and corporate stooges who spew the propaganda line that we can't afford single payer but that we can afford Iraq, Afghanistan, and the cost of fomenting trouble in Iran and Pakistan. What a bunch of nonsense.

[liberaldemdave]

dr. dean,

please challenge for the nomination in 2012.

[vinny]

second the motion

[tre]

Will he scream again?

[windup]

Dean is the man we should have had long ago. The powers that be - both parties- would never have let him get the nomination.

[jhoughton1]

You're right about that. Democracy, my a$$

[wijg]

Tell it Dr. Dean!

[edmond dantes]

Too bad Dean's campaign was derailed. He would have fought for real change, not the chump change and empty rhetoric Obama represents.

And for the record, it is Greg Mankiw, not Manikow.

[darr]

The thing that strikes me the most is that even if we get a public option we have already compromised.
Now, don't get me wrong, I am for the public option. I just wanted to point out a fact that most seem to forgotten about. During the campaign I knew Obama was not for single payer, that was obvious. But he did say that we would have the choice of having the same insurance that he and all other government officials have. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but the public option they are talking about is basically medicaid, correct? I don;t think senators and congressmen and women have medicaid for their insurance! So this public option is already a compromise...so I say I will not stand for another one! Oh by the way, I recall that Hillary was saying the same thing as Obama about us getting the health insurance they get. That idea seems to have gone out the window with no one questioning it.

[PhilipTaylor]

Strong Public Option is a DISTANT Second!

Single-Payer is Optimal!

Everything else is NOT worth Doing ad Dean said!

[darr]

I agree about single-payer. However, none of the major contenders in last year's election had that as an option. I knew it wasn't going to happen. Too much false rhetoric about single-payer. So I went with Obama because his solution seemed the next best thing. I honestly did not in a million years ever think that he would have let me down this hard this early in is administration.

[CitizenZoe]

So good bye to the millions of jobs the health care industry creates - and good bye to quality health care, right? Maybe you should go tackle this issue personally?

[alieninvader]

The Senate has a choice between a few private health insurance companies. I believe that the public option would be similar to Medicare, which I believe is much better than Medicaid. Either way, you will have a choice.

[darr]

Even if it is more like Medicare than Medicaid, it still isn't the kind of top notch healthcare they have. That's my point, they want us to compromise on something that has already been compromised and made less than we expected. The whole situation makes me want to throw up.

[CitizenZoe]

Medicaid is BETTER than any health insurance any one here or in the gov't has. I deal directly with it on a daily basis.