Legal Commentary

Howard Dean: No Public Option, No Deal

By Big Tent Democrat

Via Sam Stein:

Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean fired one of the clearest warning shots at hesitant Democratic lawmakers on Thursday, insisting that if the party was unable to produce a health care bill with a public plan, there would be electoral consequences.

As he has done before, Dean criticized talk of substituting a government run program with co-operative insurance plans, calling the latter a "fig leaf." "This talk about co-ops is a political compromise it is not a policy compromise," [Dean said[. . . .] "And I think most people, on both sides of the aisle know that co-ops won't work."

[More...]

Asked about a column by long-time Democratic strategist Paul Begala, urging progressives not to shy away from tackling health care in a more incremental approach, Dean shot back: "The public option is incrementalism.... But there is no incrementalism without the public option." He explained: "If you don't have a public option this bill is not even incremental, in terms of adequate health care reform... Paul is not entirely wrong. It is just that the last shred of reform is the public option."

Is Dean right? I think so. But more importantly, Dean is saying what he believes, not what is thought to be convenient for Obama and the Dems. Good for him.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 13, 2009 (boomark / email).