I guess people can tell that I'm not a big fan of Howard Dean...I think I called him the liberal comp for John McCain recently, and I'm happy with that comparison. I'm not say that Dean is a self-important, irresponsible showboating blowhard who doesn't bother to learn the substance of the policies he claims to care about...but I have heard people say such things about John McCain.
I'll also note that according to Ezra Klein, one of Dean's chief complaints of the Senate bill was a particular provision, the absence of which was so important that he took to the pages of the Washington Post and to the airwaves to urge Senators to kill the most significant liberal achievement since the Great Society, is actually something that's...in the bill.
I'll add that Ezra's a trustworthy and responsible guy who would immediately 'fess up and apologize if he got something like this wrong.
Plus, Mr. Dean, who thinks that the bill isn't passing with a public option, was perfectly happy with a bill sans a PO but with Medicare buy-in. In other words, he was perfectly happy to screw over everyone under 55 by his own admission.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I realize it's on the path to Medicare for all. But isn't that putting ideology over helping people if it's true?
Hmmm...I don't think that I'd have a problem with that. Really, I think that there are a lot of policy positions, including Dean's, that are possible to justify. I just think that pols who take public positions need to be responsible about it.
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