Dean Pans Senate Health Care Bill: "This Is A Bill That George Bush Would Love" (VIDEO)

Howard Dean panned the health care reform bill currently in the Senate Finance Committee as one that "George Bush would love" because "it's a massive redistribution of government tax payers' money to the insurance industry":

Exactly the same thing that was going in the banking industry and other industries on Wall Street. It is a bad bill, the Finance Committee bill. It doesn't insure people and it spends an awful lot of money and it gives it away to the insurance companies. So I do think ultimately the bill will have a public option because I don't think the Democratic party is going to stand for this.

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Comments

[comicpro]

Love Howard Dean.

[biabouman41]

The Democratic Majority: Use it or lose it.

The President and the Congress appear eager to pull the rug out from under Progressives. If they continue they will pay dearly for it NEXT TIME.

[hypnotoad72]

Yup. We'll all be voting republican, or far more likely, not voting at all, which means all the republicans will be sure to get out from under their rocks to ensure a non-victory? (If it's true the two-party system has one boss, then voting is a waste of time and studying to do something that can earn a decent living seems the better use of said time.)

[FirstShirt]

Howard who? Notice what perks and high positions he has been appointed to? Nary a one.

[SizeMatters]

How many would prefer Howard Dean as president right now?

I am interested to know how many fringe lunatics are here.

[CherokeeGirl]

Headline SHOULD read:

Lawrence O'Donnell shills for big insurance using Keith Olberman's air time!

Lawrence O'Donnell is a shill for Rahm and big insurance. He is the enemy.

Doctor Howard Dean is one of the ONLY people we have left to trust.

This is pathetic, when everyone, even liberal anchors and pundits, work against us!

[terramartom]

You got that very wrong!
Lawrence has been one of the toughest fighters at attacking and hammering away at Big "everything", Insurance, Oil, Pharmacuetical, the Military Industrial Complex and all Corporations in the USA that cheat and gouge the consumer and taxpayer....
Lawrence is a Progressive that we are fortunate enough to have as a spokesperson for all Americans, other than the rich.

http://www.richmonk31.blogspot.com

[CherokeeGirl]

Give me a break, I've been watching him being so sly trying to kill the public option.

Him and Jonathan Alter have RAHMANCE BROMANCES going on or something.

I guess anybody can sell out for the right price, or maybe Lawrence is stuck in the past and thinks he knows everything. He gets a gleam in his eye when we start to lose.

So just give me a break, I know a traitor when I see one working! Keith would never say the things he's been saying or use the tricks he's been using to brainwash us.

WAKE UP.

[CherokeeGirl]

I wish I were wrong, believe me. It's breaking my heart to see these guys peel off!

I've developed a very discerning eye and can easily see people's true intent.

He's gone from for us to against us but he's being subtle about it, acting like he's just "telling us how it's gonna be". HOGWASH.

I know a shill when I see one. I want HIM OFF OF KEITH'S SHOW or I'll leave myself!

[zest]

I love Howard Dean; this man is a statesman.

[BillyPilgram57]

Easy to see the disdain for the tone of the interview ,on the
face of Howard Dean. I sometimes wonder whether Lawrence
is working a book deal..... A book that might cater to either side
of an argument. His motive is hard to read.............

[CherokeeGirl]

you are seeing it too? thank heavens! Lawrence thinks we're stu pid.

But more importantly, why isn't Keith paying attention to how his air time is being used by Lawrence to try to push the Baucus bill and kill the public option?

KEITH OLBERMAN PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ANCHOR FILL-INS!

Are they using your show for their agenda? Do they write their own copy?

I WANT DAVID SCHUSTER BACK IF KEITH'S GONNA BE GONE SO LONG! :(

[AlphaDragon]

I thought I was imagining it when I watching that particular segment...I thought that he sounded different not because he was condescending but because he wasn't KO.

I guess I was not the only one seeing it either.

[TyneCrescent]

Its comforting to know that other people saw what I was seeing. I thought I was imagining the whole sordid affair. And you're correct. KO, you need to do a background check or something on people you allow to use your time slot to really gauge their position. Lawrence is a pretty sly operator.

[Bronxdude]

Real reform means real choice—Private versus Public. There is nothing more American than real, competition-based choice, something republicans despise because the continued monopolization of the health industry ensures their uninhibited access to wealth, which translates into limitless political power. Universal healthcare works well in Great Britain, but is opposed by republicans because the Brits have succeeded in removing the constant quest for greed-driven profit from the equation. By using alarmist rhetoric, republicans are attempting to intimidate Americans into remaining loyal to an unsustainable and broken system that is exploitive, abusive, predatory, corrupt and immoral. Contrary to what republicans would want you to believe, socialize medicine works exceptionally well in America, as evidenced by Medicare, military medicine and the Veterans Administration. Over 44 million Americans receive their healthcare through Medicare, and the number of Medicare beneficiaries receiving prescription drug coverage is expected to top 28 million this year. Combined, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs provide health care services to more than 17 million beneficiaries. Unlike predatory private insurers, beneficiaries in these systems receive benchmark pricing and have patient protection rights because the incentives have been changed from profit to ensuring quality-based, cost-effective healthcare. Republicans demonize Medicare because the profit incentive has been removed, which means they can’t exploit government-run healthcare for monetary gain. Even though as a B film actor Reagan was paid to villainize socialized medicine, 40 years later, Medicare is a glowing success.

[jmpurser]

Real health care reform has nothing to do with "choice" of insurance company.

[Bronxdude]

President Obama truly cares about the prosperity and well-being of every American—regardless of class or race—and is offering this country healthcare stability and security. Afraid of the impact Obama might have on unifying America, republicans are villainizing, dehumanizing and delegitimizing him to advance their exclusionist, racist and elitist agenda. Since Obama is not part of the entrenched Washington establishment or the elite upper crust, he feels no pressure to return favors that would unnecessarily sacrifice precious political capital he’ll need to strong-arm self-serving politicians. Republicans are singularly fixated on maintaining the status quo to ensure their continued generational access to wealth, influence and power. Similar to segregated country clubs, republicans are concerned primarily with separating and distancing themselves from members of the working-class. After all, the purpose of the working-class is to serve the wealthy by cooking their meals, rearing their children, cleaning their homes and doing whatever tasks deemed essential to ensuring their existence is awash in luxury, simplicity and overindulgence. Working-class conservatives have been duped into believing that their concerns are championed by republicans, a political party heavily comprised of aristocrats. In reality, the GOP is only concerned with advancing their own self-serving interests, which is why they exploit the working-class, oppose worker rights and want to keep America angrily divided by class and race. Universal health insurance would elevate the standard of living for working-class Americans, something republicans vehemently oppose.

[jmpurser]

President Obama is offering a massive corporate welfare bill at the expense of the American people and the American economy.

[FreedomAgain]

Time will tell.

[hypnotoad72]

Both you and Bronxdude make very good points. As to the veracity of those points, that remains to be proven. As such what we've seen has led more to inference. By and large... I will agree that the Obama from 2003, about single payer, has changed, but he's done more than enough to show he's the better person for the job of being President...

[Bronxdude]

Structural change invariably generates anxiety and fear, which was the case in 1964 when President Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act through Congress. Dixiecrats were comfortable with the status quo and wrongly believed that granting Black Americans equal protection under the Constitution would somehow destabilize America, both economically and politically. With regard to insurance reform, the same type of baseless fear is rearing its ugly head in 2009. For republicans, fear mongering proliferated through vicious lies is the preferred weapon of choice, and the disgusting success of their disinformation campaign is quite apparent in North Carolina, where 15 percent of registered republicans believe that Hawaii is a foreign country, 46 percent believe Obama is a “Manchurian Candidate” planted by communist spies, and 76 percent believe that Medicare is not socialized healthcare. It’s no surprise that the epicenter of reform opposition originates in the hinterlands of sparsely populated, undeveloped, uneducated, culturally isolated, and unsophisticated Southern states. Georgia and Alabama rank at the bottom on every public health indicator monitored by CDC and DHHS, yet Southern republicans oppose reform. Life expectancy in Alabama is equal to Haiti. Not surprisingly, however, republicans from Southern states rank at the top when it comes to soliciting payoffs from parasites insurers like UnitedHealthcare. Seniors: If you don’t like government run healthcare, turn in your Medicare cards!

[FirstShirt]

Observation. Do you honestly think anyone is going to read your ranting? Keep it simple. sometimes that's harder.

[Bronxdude]

Contrary to Coburn’s lies and mendacious scare tactics, generational debt paid for WWII, Korea and Vietnam and will also pay for Iraq, Afghanistan and the republican prescription drug bill. Since the cost associated with goods and services are linked to inflation and increase exponentially, those currently paying into the Medicare fund with 2009 dollars are not doing so to safeguard their future access to benefits, but, instead, are paying to make up for the short fall in revenue necessary to cover the cost of benefits purchased by fund recipients with 1970 dollars, which when adjusted for inflation to compensate for the difference in buying power between 1970 and 2009 dollars, meets the operational definition for generational debt; thus, those who pay today are paying to insure access for those who paid in the past. In essence, I’m paying for people who paid into the system 35 years ago, because their 1970 dollars can’t buy healthcare at 2009 prices. The option to buy into Medicare would increase the pool size, with the end result being enhanced benefits, solvency, lower costs and greater access to healthcare. Of course republicans would oppose such a move because opening up Medicare to everyone would decrease the profits for the insurance industry, which in turn would reduce kickbacks republicans receive from sleazy corporations like UnitedHealthcare. Republicans have blood on their hands: 90,000 Americans die every year simply because they don’t have health insurance.

[Bronxdude]

Since sell-out republicans sanction the looting of the middleclass by the same ruthless insurers they fought to deregulate during the Reagan years, we need the government between the public and degenerate insurance profiteers. Republicans are spreading malicious lies that the democrats’ plan will lead to rationing and the government determining which medical procedures a patient can have. Really? Millions of Americans already face rationing, as parasitic insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare arbitrarily rule on what they will cover. To solidify their monopolistic stranglehold in Georgia, UnitedHealthcare executives colluded with elected republicans to artificially control marketplace competition, with the goal being to increase the profit margin. To further reduce utilization costs, and gin-up profits, state employees in Georgia have no due process appeal rights, a negotiated constraint that gives UnitedHealthcare carte blanche to deny medical coverage with no consequences. Limiting choice drives up cost, increasing the profit margin, which translates into republican whores receiving bigger payoffs. Real reform will end the monopolistic strangle-hold enjoyed by soul-less insurers like UnitedHealthcare. Hospitals, entrepreneurs masquerading as doctors and insurance parasites get paid regardless of the outcome: if you live, they get paid; if you die, they get paid; if you’re maimed, they get paid. Only lawyers, politicians and prostitutes enjoy a sweeter financial arrangement. The republican legislated status quo is not working for middleclass America. Competition with the government works…just ask FedEx and UPS. Or look at private and state colleges.

[Bronxdude]

When it comes to health insurance for its citizens, among industrialized powers, WHO ranks Spain 7th and America 37th; in Spain, access to affordable healthcare is a Constitutional right, not a privilege reserved for the rich; conversely, more people die waiting for care in America than in Spain, Canada, Great Britain and France combined—so much for the republican lie about government-run healthcare spawning rationed care. In the current debate, republicans have not raised fact-based questions about what’s in proposed reform legislation; instead, they’ve relied on scare tactics instigated by paid lobbyist to propagate salacious lies. Working-class republicans: Trust your instinct to think! Don’t confuse liking your doctor with liking the morally corrupt insurance company robbing you blind. Despite the absurdity of the lies being spread by Coburn, Kyl, Grassley and other self-serving republicans, 55 percent of registered republicans willingly reject the truth and embrace the lie that health insurance reform will cover illegal aliens, while another 56 percent accept the ludicrous notion of death panels. Despite the Hyde Amendment, which bars taxpayer money for abortions, in their fact-impaired universe, a whopping 58 percent of registered republicans believe that heath insurance reform will pay for abortions. Incredibly, 79 percent of Fox viewers believe that Medicare is not socialized medicine, while 73 percent believe that government sponsored death panels are real. The new republican paradigm: fake Christians lying like degenerate sociopaths. Public option now!

[FirstShirt]

See, here's the deal. Everytime I go to the doctor my insurance company pays. Every time. Yet when big businesses steal money from the consumer our President says they are too big to fail so he bails them out? Who is cheating and who is being honest?

[Bronxdude]

As a result of collusive, exclusionary and illegal practices that make a mockery of the Sherman Antitrust Act, predatory insurers like UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint funnel millions to crooked republicans in exchange for favorable legislation designed to eliminate competition, ration healthcare, gin-up profits, and fortify their monopolistic advantage by artificially controlling the insurance market. There is no “free market” or real choice when subscribers are forced to select doctors from a list complied and approved by for-profit, degenerate insurance industry bean-counters. Doctors selected by UnitedHealthcare as “approved providers” are not done so because of their demonstrated level of peer reviewed expertise, exceptional competence and professional commitment; instead, they are chosen because of their willingness to accept extremely low reimbursement fees. In essence, with UnitedHealthCare, the notion of true choice and quality care is a farce because the subscriber is deliberately steered toward low-bid doctors willing to accept very low reimbursement. Pick a non-approved doctor, and, similar to Pavlov’s dog, the subscriber is punished financially to deter any future occurrence of such treasonous and ungrateful behavior. Physicians who agree to accept such low reimbursement are not the “honor grads” of their class, nor are they respected and accomplished among their peers. They are singularly motivated by greed, not a desire to practice their craft adeptly. The public option will allow Americans to select from the most competent practitioners, not just the low-bidders forced on subscribers by soul-less, greed-driven, parasitic insurers.

[FirstShirt]

I love it when otherwise intelligent people immediately denigrate their own arguments by partisan pandering. What makes you think only republicans have their hands out.

[sc300nc]

No government option! Any senator or representative voting for a government option will bear the wrath next year.

[FirstShirt]

Wait until those on Social Security and Medicare find out that money will be taken from Medicare for funding the new health program. Think the baby boomers won't use their votes?