Howard Dean’s “teachable moment” on ObamaCare

Finally, at long last, some straight talk from a diehard lefty politico on tort reform:

(CNSNews.com) – Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, a medical doctor who served as governor of Vermont, said at a town hall meeting on Tuesday night that Democrats in Congress did not include tort reform in the health care bill because they were fearful of β€œtaking on” the trial lawyers.

β€œThis is the answer from a doctor and a politician,” said Dean. β€œHere is why tort reform is not in the bill. When you go to pass a really enormous bill like that the more stuff you put in, the more enemies you make, right? And the reason why tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everybody else they were taking on, and that is the plain and simple truth. Now, that’s the truth.”

Here’s the video (Dean’s remarks come at roughly 45 seconds in … after Rep. Moran verifies the person asking the question is one of his constituents via demanding ID):

Wanna hear more straight talk on ObamaCare? Read on:

Some people, including Medicare recipients, will have to give up some current benefits to truly reform the nation’s health-care system, Rep. Betsy Markey [D] told a gathering of constituents in Fort Collins on Wednesday.

Markey has repeatedly said during the August congressional recess that Medicare spending needs to be reined in to help pay for reforming the broader health-care system.

“There’s going to be some people who are going to have to give up some things, honestly, for all of this to work,” Markey said at a Congress on Your Corner event at CSU. “But we have to do this because we’re Americans.”

About 275 people att-ended Wednesday’s meetings, split into two groups. About 1,300 people have attended Markey’s health-care meetings over the past eight days, and another 10,300

10,300 participated in a telephone town hall earlier this week, Markey spokesman Ben Marter said.

The audience at Wednesday’s gathering appeared largely supportive of Democratic reform plans, with a number of people arriving with signs prepared by Organizing for America, a spinoff of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Gee – now there’s a shocker.

Ok, so who is it who will have to “give up” something in order to make ObamaCare work for “all Americans”? Wouldn’t be our seniors and the chronically ill, now would it?

And while on the subject of ObamaCare, Mary Katharine Ham makes an excellent point:

In another ironic Medicare twist, Obama’s quest to cut Medicare waste may undercut another selling point of the left’s beloved “public” government-run insurance option. Obama has argued repeatedly that Medicare’s low administrative costs are proof of government’s efficiency, but the level of the administrative costs is due to a combination of fuzzy government accounting and the very lack of oversight Obama claims to want to eliminate to save money. By employing more people to oversee Medicare to cut waste and fraud, Obama will eliminate the administrative savings he’s been touting to sell yet another government health program.

Can Barack Obama take a government program in desperate need of overhaul and make it worse? Yes, he can!

Related links:

Comments are closed.