Huffington Post today reports a strong message from Howard Dean on the fate of the Public Plan and the fate of those who vote against it.
"I do think there will be primaries as the result of all this, if the bill doesn't pass with a public option," Dean said, in a phone interview with the Huffington Post.
I stand with Howard Dean. A so-called health care reform that passes with a mandate that individuals must buy private insurance is unacceptable if there is no strong public option to contain costs and to offer a safety net. A so-called reform that stiffs the average American while filling the pockets of the insurance companies with subsidies paid for by tax payers is not acceptable for a national Party that claims to stand for working people and the poor.
I stand with Howard Dean:
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," he said, of the discussions currently underway in the Senate Finance Committee. "And I think most people, on both sides of the aisle know that co-ops won't work."
I stand with Howard Dean when he shoots back at Paul Begala for not only selling out his principles but for selling out the Party and Americans too:
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."
I stand with Howard Dean when he says the Republicans have never, ever had any interest in passing a bill and are putting the interests of their Party above the interests of the American people.
I stand with Dean when he says:
The earlier the White House realizes it's negotiating against itself, the quicker it can produce a bill that better satisfies the people who actually got the president elected.
I am one of those people who actually helped get President Obama elected. I have been working hard and every single day on getting the public option passed. I have written emails and faxes, and I have called. I went with my local Democratic Party to visit with Kay Hagan's staff on Tuesday (here's the diary I wrote on that). I am still making appointments with legislators. I am working with our local Democratic Party on Calls to action....
I will continue to work on this issue until the last dog dies on the public option, but if and when it dies, I will not be a Democrat who supports a bad bill that throws poor and working Americans under the bus and stuffs more money in the pockets of the isurance companies. I will work to defeat such a bill and any Democrat who supports it.