Howard Dean is leading the socialist's charge in an interview Vermont Public Radio(VPR) where he proclaimed "This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill."
He is referring to the collapse of the Medicare buy-in, where people can buy in to Medicare at age 55-64, putting them on a government run plan as people who are 65 and older are entitled to.
The interviw is here at the VPR website.
Dean also declared
"The American people don't care how we get this, as long as we get a decent process. The Republicans in the Senate will moan and groan, but they're out of touch with where America really is. You have the vast majority of Americans want the choices, they want real choices. They don't have them in this bill. This is not health care reform and it's not close to health care reform."
Perhaps Dean hasn't been keeping up with the polls, where multiple polls, from different polling organizations show the majority of the public opposed to plans currently being proposed.
The numbers and links to all the recent polling were supplied here yesterday:
Using the latest polls from Gallup, Rasmussen, Fox, CNN, Quinnipiac and Ipsos/McClatchy, they take the numbers and average them.
The Breakdown
Gallup- 48 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 46 percent for.
Rasmussen- 56 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 40 percent for.
Fox News- 57 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 34 percent for.
CNN- 61 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 36 percent for.
Quinnipiac- 52 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 38 percent for.
Ipsos/McClatchy- 46 percent Opposed to Obamacare/ 34 percent for.
He can spout his nonsense all he wants, the polling numbers prove differently.
Better yet, the White House, Harry Reid and Democratic politicians have done all in their power to make it clear they felt there were huge changes in the mammoth sized bill, even without the Medicare buy-in and the public option and Dean, singlehandedly has just blown all that careful spinning out of the water by stating "There are some good things in this bill, but they're small, and let's have a small bill for this $32 billion"
When a CNN poll shows more people against Obamacare than a Fox News' poll does, Democrats are in a world of hurt.
What Dean has just done is give the left a reason to kill a bill that is Obama's pet project.
As much as we hear about the Republicans being "obstructionists" because they will not get behind the public option and more entitlement programs that will raise our already massive deficit, it is the centrist Democrats, the moderates of their own party and Independents, they cannot find a middle ground with.
Progressives are getting behind Dean and their new chant is "Kill the Bill" although some, more moderate Democrats, understand that Dean's idea could very well be the end of Obama's dream child.
The Moderate Voice, Kathy Kattanburg:
I respect the activists’ passion and sincerity, but I do not agree with them at all — although at one time, I would have. I think the underlying policy is more important than whether we get everything we want in the first round. One of the reasons I feel that way is the length of time we’ve been trying to get health care reform: All my life. That’s since 1950, for who those who don’t know. I think activists are being very naive if they think we can start from scratch and get the best parts of this legislation — or any parts of it at all through reconciliation. If it dies now, it’s dead. Maybe not forever, but for another couple of decades for certain. And I’m not willing to see that happen.
Dean has kicked up quite a firestorm in the blogosphere and liberal anger is reaching new height's as people plant themselves on the side of the line that has been drawn.
Anger at Obama from FireDoglake, who comes right out and calls Barack Obama a liar, telling bald faced lies.
President Obama Tells Bald-Faced Lie About Health Care Reform Cost Control
Mr. President, If you are going to cut secret deals that will force Americans to spend billions more on their prescription drugs, at least have the decency to not publicly lie about how your “health care reform” bill will do everything it can to reduce costs for American families. You know it is a lie, the PhRMA lobbyists you cut the secret deal with know it is a lie, health care reform experts knows it is a lie, and the American people should know it is a lie.
Anger at Joe Lieberman from from Democrats.
More anger at Obama from Brainless at Breakfast:
At this point, I have absolutely no faith in Barack Obama to accomplish much of anything now that he's shown his weak underbelly to the voracious Republican wolves. It seems that now we know why he was allowed by Diebold and ES&S to win. The money guys didn't trust John McCain, they knew that George W. Bush was leaving a clusterfuck, and they knew that Barack Obama was all about trying to keep everybody happy. It isn't so much that I'm disillusioned, because I really didn't have any about this guy. I'm just saddened that this intelligent man who has so much potential has decided to squander it trying to play nice with people who would just as soon see him disgraced while he's thrown the people who elected him in the trash. You can say all you want to that this isn't Barack Obama, it's Rahm Emanuel's handiwork, but Obama is the guy who made him chief of staff. The buck stops there.
Topping off the news on Obamacare today, we see what might be the straw that breaks the camel's back when Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), the co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, declares that voters won't even bother going to the polls if a bill passes that does not include the public option.
Worse yet for Democratic politicians is House Democrats are joining Howard Dean on his side of the line and saying they might not vote for the bill in the House if the public option or the Medicare buy-in isn't part of the bill.
Woolsey said that she doesn't know she could vote for the Senate bill, reflecting uncertainty that the razor-thin margin by which the House passed healthcare the House in early November.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the other co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also sternly warned he would vote against the Senate proposal.
"The Senate has somehow managed to turn the House’s silk purse into a sow’s ear," he said. "If what the Senate is doing isn’t corrected in conference with the House, I will not support the bill. Since the Senate won’t use reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes, it doesn’t look promising for any real change.”
The White is controlled by the Democrats with a Democratic President.
The House of Representatives is controlled by Democrats.
The Senate is controlled by Democrats.
I said all along that perhaps the best part of having all three branches controlled by the Democrats is they would be held accountable for everything they do or don't so.
Take Republicans out of the picture totally and what you have is Democratic leaders that cannot even rally their own caucus, cannot even compromise in a satisfactory manner with each other and are being held accountable.
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