Howard Dean Still Fighting for Real Health Care Reform (and Winning) Basically,
everything passed in today's (Saturday's) manager's bill (Reid's
amendment) is the Democrat's response to Howard Dean's call to improve
the legislation.
Democrats responded to Dean's public criticism with an improved Senate bill, according to Bernie Sanders, who was seen on C-Span by a friend of Blog for Iowa, Tom Slockett of Iowa City. Here's what Sanders said:
To address the problem of 60 million Americans not having regular access to a primary health care doctor, he [Dean] got:
An additional $10 billion dollars over the next five years for community health centers. This will provide an additional 10,000 communities access to community health centers. It will fund the development of an additional 20,000 primary care doctors, dentists, and nurses. He is working with Jim Clyburn in the House and predicts that the $10B will be increased to $14B in the conference committee with the House.
It increases the federal payment for Medicaid for people under 133% of the poverty level.
It will immediately upon passage bar pre-existing conditions for children (previously didn't kick in until 2014)
Generally speaking, Dean's criticism has resulted in giving the House bill a lot more clout and it is a much better bill than the Senate bill.
"To be clear, I'm not giving up on health-care reform." ~ Howard Dean, M.D., for the Washington Post, December 17, 2009
Previously this week, the [dysfunctional corporate] media was filled with reports that Washington insiders called Governor Dean "irrational"... and... "irrelevant to the entire healthcare debate." D.C. insiders [the dysfunctional corporate media] want to frame the fight for real healthcare reform as Howard Dean vs. the White House. But this isn't about Dr. Dean and it isn't about the White House. It's about Americans vs. Insurance Companies and Governor Dean is working to make sure Americans win. [Much
of the wailing and gnashing of teeth had to do with the fact that many
in the media simply reported it wrong, and painted Dean as giving up on
health care.] Italics BFIA's.
Washington politicians are working hard to throw Dr. Dean under the bus. What they don't seem to understand is that Governor Dean speaks for you and me.
In the last week, the public health insurance option Majority Leader Reid put into his merged bill was stripped out, and a "compromise" allowing people over the age of 55 to buy into Medicare if they chose was added and then also stripped to appease Senators Joe Lieberman. 12 The leadership and the White House accepted these changes in order to move forward, and they have introduced a bill in the Senate that reflects this. 34
The compromise, which took away the best way to truly hold the insurance companies accountable, provoked an angry reaction from health reform supporters.5 Frankly, we're angry, too. The new bill released today does include a number of new, tougher insurance reforms, including a patients' bill of rights, restrictions on how much insurers can spend on administration and profit, and an attempt to hold down insurance premium increases.
Right now, the Senate bill looks like it will pass the Senate next week and move into conference with the House, which has a much better bill that it passed last month.6
We need to make sure that the final bill that goes to President Obama's desk provides good, affordable coverage and holds insurance companies accountable.
Here's what must be fixed:
1. Make health care affordable The Senate bill does not make health care affordable at work, and would encourage employers to hire part-time workers and offer bare-bones benefits. We need the final legislation to do what the House bill does - require all but the smallest employers to contribute a fair amount to good coverage for their workers.
And for those people who are self-employed or in between jobs, both bills need improvement on affordability. The Senate bill doesn't do enough to make coverage affordable for low-and-moderate income families and the House falls short for middle-income families. The final bill should combine the best of both.
2. Hold insurance companies accountable The final bill must include strong consumer protections and insurance regulations for all consumers, and give the federal government responsibility for running the new insurance marketplaces. Generally, the House bill is better, but we need Congress to pick the strongest provisions from both bills to be sure that everyone with insurance benefits from strong consumer protections.
The final bill should also give us the choice of a national public health insurance option that's available on day one.
3. Fairly finance health care reform The Senate bill taxes the health care benefits of millions of workers to pay for health reform. There's a better way to pay for health reform that won't raise premiums and out of pocket costs. By contrast, the House bill asks those who can most afford to pay their fair share to finance reform, as President Obama promised during his campaign.
The final bill should ask the richest to pay their fair share for reform, instead of taxing our health care benefits.
[Note from BFIA: Another thing that needs fixed: Women are mad that the 60th vote needed for passage out of the Senate, delivered by Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska, was won at the cost of tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions. Nelson has said he will take his vote back if this gets changed in conference committee later. According to the New York Times today, "under the deal worked out with Mr. Nelson, health insurance plans would not be required or forbidden to cover abortions, but states could prohibit the coverage of abortions by plans that are offered for sale through new government-regulated marketplaces."]
What's next?
The reason that conservative Democrats like Ben Nelson and Independent Joe Lieberman have been able to hold the bill hostage to their demands is that Republicans have insisted on filibustering the bill every step of the way, requiring all 60 Senators who are part of the Democratic caucus to agree. That will continue this week, with the next 60-vote motion happening on Monday and perhaps two more 60-votes motions occurring during the week.
After the Senate passes their health care bill, it will head into "conference" with the House bill. There, leaders from each branch of Congress, as well as the White House, will work to resolve the differences between the two bills and come up with something that can pass and be sent to the President's desk.
Conference is an opportunity to stand up for the three priorities listed above, and make sure the final bill guarantees us quality, affordable health care, with the choice of a public health insurance option. The legislation that comes out of the conference will be sent to both houses of Congress for a final vote, and will require a majority in the House and 60 votes one more time in the Senate.
What can be done?
In the coming days, we'll be asking you to let your Senators, member of Congress and President Obama hear from you. We'll be rolling out with a campaign to stand up for the fixes we must see to get the best bill possible to the President's desk. We'll be asking you to take part, raise your voice, and help us fight for what we believe in.
It's been a tough week for health care reformers, there's no question. But we need to get ready, because it's not over yet.
As President Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty." This last week has been painful and difficult, and there's a lot of effort ahead. We'll all be taking this time over the holidays to recharge for the coming fight. Health Care for America Now
The Birth of Blog for Iowa: 5 Years Ago Today 4/2/09:UPDATE
FROM ALTA PRICE, Owner of BFIA: Alta was no doubt frivoling away her
time yesterday on health care reform or some such triviality, making
her birthday blog post entry late! Today we are delighted to add
Alta's remembrance to the compilation.
After
Howard Dean dropped out of the Presidential race, the thousands of
committed activists inspired by his candidacy had to find an outlet for
that passion, a way to preserve our community, and meaningful ways to
apply our newly acquired online skills. We were delighted when we heard
that the Dean for America community would continue, but of course with
a new name.
When the new name – Democracy for America - was
announced, in March of 2004, I got an email from Eric Davis, an
Illinois super-volunteer I had met when I was in charge of recruiting
Illinois volunteers to come to help out in eastern Iowa for the Dean
campaign. Eric told me he had purchased the domain name
democracyforillinois, and suggested I acquire democracyforiowa. Of
course, I had never bought a domain name, and had only the vaguest idea
what he was even talking about. But Eric directed me to GoDaddy and I
bought the domain names.
Of course at that point I had no idea
what to do with them! So I sent out an email to the Iowa
super-volunteers letting them know what I had done. Linda Thieman
emailed me back with a short message asking “have you decided what to
do about web-hosting?” I answered “what’s web-hosting?” and that was
the start of a very productive exchange (mostly Linda knowing what to
do and me saying that sounds great!) that led to the creation of Blog
for Iowa. Happy belated B-day, BFIA!
Alta Price
~~~~~
4/1/09: Note from BFIA Editor, Trish Nelson: For Blog for Iowa's 5th birthday, I asked some of the original Deaniacs and posters to write a few words to commemorate the occasion. BFIA's founding Editor, Linda Thieman, starts us off with a look at how it all began.
It’s hard to believe that Blog for Iowa got up and running five years ago today. We were born out of the glory and the defeat of the Howard Dean presidential campaign. We were there at the birth of the modern-day progressive movement. And we emerged intact from the local Dean Meet Up organizations.
In Storm Lake in NW Iowa, where I ran our local little Dean Meet Up, we had a wonderful Dean staffer named David who worked tirelessly for the cause. He attended every Meet Up and acted as our "resident expert." Then, after each meeting, he and I would stand and talk for ages, full of the excitement of it all.
The day after Dean’s caucus defeat, David said to me excitedly, “Did you hear? We came in third?” And I was sort of like, “Um, yeah. I know. Dean got third.” And David said, “No! Buena Vista County came in third in the state—the third-highest county for Dean!” That was remarkable for this conservative county in the 5th district, and due, I think, entirely to David and his organization of the university students in Storm Lake and the Dems in the surrounding small towns. After such a showing, David was disappointed when the Dean campaign did not retain him, but quickly got a job driving around some unknown guy named Obama who was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois.
Well, after the defeat, we pressed on. Dean for America morphed into Democracy for America. Through several conference calls for Iowa Meet Up leaders, I had met Dr. Alta Price of Bettendorf, and once our beloved gov withdrew from the race, Alta contacted all the state Meet Up leaders to try to get a chapter of Democracy for Iowa going. The cornerstone would be Blog for Iowa, which I volunteered to run. Well, the local Meet Ups were happy remaining local and a statewide organization never did get off the ground even after years of trying. But Blog for Iowa thrived, with people like Alta and Molly Regan over in Eastern Iowa promoting it with buttons and in parades and through e-groups.
I stayed with BFIA for two years and then came back to run the blog for three months last fall while we transitioned editors from Sam Garchik to Trish Nelson. Yeah, I got to run Blog for Iowa when Barack Obama won the presidential election. I tried not to let on, but I was a total nervous wreck, afraid that once again the dream would be yanked away from us.
Molly Regan is a tireless progressive activist in the Quad Cities. She has been a trusted poster and supporter of Blog for Iowa from the beginning.
Howard Dean is the reason the Blog For IOWA exists.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 was the date that thousands of Dr. Howard Dean admirers gathered around the country to celebrate the 5th Birthday of Democracy For America. In Scott County, IOWA, 15 people showed up from members of the local Quad-City DFAers to county Democrats as well as members of QCA for Change. Those from QCA for Change are part of the larger group America for Change which is an outgrowth of President BARACK OBAMA's candidacy. We spoke how we first heard of and encountered Dr. Dean and of how he changed our lives. One couple, Lou and Joe Waechter, who have been helping getting Democrats elected for over 50 years, still had that look of glee in their eyes as they told of seeing the good Dr. for the first time. It was during Howard Dean's campaign that the internet was first used extensively to keep in touch with the voters. We all benefited from his famous "You Have The Power" encouragement. President BARACK OBAMA was elected at least in half because of the 50 State Strategey that came out of Howard Dean's foresight to create Democracy For America and the DEAN DOZEN. We all owe Dr. Dean much for his vision of the future and what it can and should be like for those of us who love justice and progressiveness. Thank you, we are eternally grateful to you Dr. Howard Dean for creating Democracy For America.
Happy birthday, DFA! Happy birthday, Blog for Iowa! Molly Regan
~~~~~
Dave Leshtz was a staffer for Howard Dean's campaign in Iowa. He has run the Prairie Progressive, a newsletter for Iowa's Democratic left, for a really long time.
Five years? It doesn't seem possible. I remember how happy I was - after the excitement of the early blogging days, hours of obsessively watching The Bat, and seeing unexpected people (Leonard Boswell?!) jump online - when Blog for Iowa was born, a lively and lovely child of the ground-breaking DFA blog. Though up and down over the years, BFIA has remained indispensable, and I'm pleased that it's found new energy and vigor. May it always inspire us, as Jesse Jackson used to say, to be close enough to serve but far enough to challenge.
David Leshtz
~~~~~
Dennis and Robin Roseman are hard working former deaniacs and democratic party activists who have run the DFA meet-ups in Johnson County since the presidential campaign ended.
Thank you Blog for Iowa for 5 years of thoughtful commentary on important political events here in Iowa and across the nation. BFIA is an important part of the progressive movement in Iowa where our voices can be heard and our views discussed. BFIA began small but over the years has become a place to go to get out information and action alerts and to find out what others in the progressive community here are doing. BFIA nurtures us and renews our hope and commitment to the causes we care about. Thank you Alta Price for your creativity in getting BFIA started and your strong support through the years. Thank you Linda Thieman, Sam Garchik, and Trish Nelson for the heavy lifting, and to all the others who have contributed their articles over the years.
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Blog for Iowa, Happy Birthday to you…..and many more!
Robin and Dennis Roseman Co-Chairs, Johnson County Democracy for America
~~~~~
Dave Bradley (Iowa's Jim Hightower) has posted on BFIA and his LTEs and guest opinions can be found in the paper as often as he is eligible to publish.Dave and his progressive activist wife, Carol, live in West Liberty.
Happy birthday, BFIA! Thank you for being one of the modern extensions of Tom Paine. There must always be people willing to put those in power under a spotlight and be willing to stand up to them when they are wrong. If the government of the people is to survive, then there must be knowledgeable people watching those who wield power. Here's to another five good years!
Dave Bradley
~~~~~
Sam Garchik stepped up to take over as editor of Blog for Iowa when it needed to be adopted. Sam served ably as editor until returning to school for a graduate degree shortly before the November election.
Five years after Blog for Iowa's birth, the site continues to be a fantastic resource. Back in 2004, no one really understood what a blog could be or what it should look like. Blog for Iowa, created by Linda and sustained by myself and Trish and lots of contributors, continues to offer quality content and useful links.
According to Technorati, there are between 77 and 184 million blogs in existence. I imagine few have the staying power of this one.Happy Birthday, Blog for Iowa!
Sam Garchik
~~~~~
Mike Carberry is an energetic activist who is on a first-name basis with our hero, Howard Dean.
It was the Dean For America campaign that really cemented my career in political and environmental advocacy. Blog for Iowa was the backbone for the DFA campaign in Iowa. Blog for Iowa was then and continues to be the voice for progressive action here in Iowa. I couldn't do my job nearly as well without BFIA. Happy 5th birthday to Blog for Iowa and here's hoping to many successful years to come. Thanks for being the progressive voice for Iowa.
Ryan J. Davis: Howard Dean For HHS Ryan J. Davis, Huffington Post
Tom Daschle's withdrawal leaves an opening at Health and Human Services. Howard Dean is the man for that job.
Dean isn't given enough credit for his expert chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. His "50 State Strategy" is as responsible for Obama's large victory in 2008 as any other factor. Not to mention the 2006 congressional gains. He rebuilt the grass roots of the Democratic Party from the ground up, organizing a whole generation of young leaders.
His record as a two-term governor of Vermont is strong, including providing near-universal heath coverage. During his gubernatorial reelection bid, he had to wear a bulletproof vest because of death threats he'd received due to his support for gay civil unions.
Personally, Dean inspired me enough in 2003 that I moved to Vermont to work for him. He was one of the early voices of reason (followed by Gore and Obama) in the Democratic Party, opposing the war in Iraq. His 2004 campaign's use of the Internet changed the face of American politics forever.
Dean, also a medical doctor, would be an inspired choice for secretary of Health and Human Services. His knowledge of the issues plus his openness to innovation make him uniquely qualified. Join us on Facebook in support of the good doctor! Blog for Iowa could not agree more. The only thing worse than Dean's being overlooked for HHS in the first place was Obama's trying to appoint Daschle to the position--a player who lives in the pocket of Big Pharma.
President Obama, you went out of your way to heal the rift between your team and the Clinton people, but then did nothing to heal the despicable way that the progressives have been treated in your party. You need to get over Rahm's hatred of Howard Dean and do the right thing NOW, now that you have another chance. Calling Dr. Dean. We need you!
DFA Action Alert: Reinstate the 50 State Strategy Now! "Election by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote by vote....we're going to lift our Party up and take this country back for the people who built it."
~ Governor Howard Dean
The Washington Post reports that Barack has chosen Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, to succeed Gov. Howard Dean as chair of the Democratic National Committee. The official announcement is expected soon.
But at least one question still remains when it comes to the future of the DNC: When will they reinstate the 50 State Strategy?
The 50 State Strategy will go down as one of the most successful long-term programs the Democratic National Committee has ever implemented. Not just for Barack but for candidates up and down the ballot all across the country. But while there has been a lot of talk about keeping it alive, all of the original DNC 50 State Strategy organizers have been let go.
With special elections, local mayor and city council races all coming up soon, this is one decision that can't wait any longer. Call on Tim Kaine to immediately renew the 50 State Strategy and we'll make sure he gets the message.
For example, only three years ago, Gov. Dean was mocked by party insiders and Washington Democrats for spending DNC resources in Alaska. This week, Alaskans watched Mark Begich swear in as their newly elected Democratic Senator.
We have a lot of work ahead to get America back on track. Our new Congress is sworn in and we're only a few days from Barack's historic inauguration. We risk everything we've gained if we return to a shallow strategy of only fighting for votes in a few swing states. We need to continue to think long-term and make sure our national party can compete for votes nationwide.
DEATH OF 50-STATE STRATEGY? This note from the Progressive Populist:
[Since] Howard Dean is expected to be replaced as Democratic national chairman, [this clears] the way for President-elect Barack Obama to name the new party chairman. Also out the door, apparently, is the 50-State Strategy, as the 200 organizers who had been deployed nationwide to organize state parties are being laid off at the end of November. The new DNC chair will decide whether to continue the 50-state policy, but Chris Bowers of OpenLeft.com noted that firing the organizers “effectively kills the program, no matter the messaging and commitment of the remaining staffers.”
Well, it figures. It's no different from when Gov. Dean set up a health care system for the people of Vermont only to have it largely dismantled by the governor who followed.
It's like, as soon as Dean leaves a place, a black hole closes around where he used to be and the whole thing implodes, sucked back into nothingness.
I wonder how all the new registered Democrats will feel going back to being ignored.
Dean Party Disaster: Fighting Howards! by Linda Thieman
There is no weirdness too weird for the genuine Deaniac. I should know. I’m one of them.
Recently, after the big electoral college Obama-electing election, Dr. Alta Price of Democracy for the Quad Cities gave a Howard Dean party at her home. (There is simply never a wrong time to have a Howard Dean party, according to Iowa’s de facto head Deaniac.)
The more sober Deaniacs (if there is such a thing) sat and gazed in rapture at that moment in history that defined Howard Dean as unafraid to speak out, representing the “Democratic wing of the Democratic party” – a slogan borrowed from the late, beloved U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone.
Amazingly, a large number of these rabid Dean supporters had never actually SEEN the beloved gov deliver his famous “What I Want to Know” speech from 2003. So, Alta obliged them by showing her video tape of the event. (Does this thing still work?)
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, there was a choreographed fight going on between Howard Dean and, well, Howard Dean. Connie Wilson, press-credentials seeker extraordinaire, had brought her Dean doll along, and her Dean doll had tangled with Alta’s Dean doll. Heads landed on cake plates and forks were thrown. (These Dean dolls were a prototype made up by, of course, a Deaniac several years ago. All their parts move—wrists, elbows, arms, etc. I wondered aloud if you could take off its suit jacket and roll up its sleeves! Alta was unable to provide me with that information.)
So, long story even longer, some of the Deaniacs relegated to the kitchen started posing the two Howards and taking pictures. It was an epic battle for the soul of the doll-faced Howard Dean (I’ll let you guess what I mean by that.) There was even an appearance put in by Flat Howard, and if you don’t know what that is, what are you doing reading a Dean blog, pray tell? (Not that you aren’t perfectly welcome, mind you.)
Connie's daughter, Stacey Wilson, has transferred the photos of the altercation to video, which is now being hosted at You Tube. The tag line is hysterically funny. Enjoy.
Happy Birthday, Howard! (Give here) Today is a national holiday in Deanland--the 60th birthday of our beloved gov, Howard Dean. You don't look a day over 59, Howard!
As snark-master Bill in Portland Maine over at Daily Kos points out, the DNC took out massive loans to meet the objectives of Howard Dean's visionary 50-state strategy. Now that we've won, it's time to pay up.
So, all of those in favor of making a little contribution in honor of the birth of Howard Dean, click here.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean Will Not Seek Second Term According to the AP, Howard Dean will honor his committment to a one-term chairmanship of the DNC.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean plans to step down from his post when his term expires in January, wrapping up a tenure in which the party heavily invested in all 50 states for a payoff that helped elect Barack Obama president.
Dean, who was briefly his party's presidential front-runner in 2004, was elected DNC chairman in 2005 and has long vowed to serve only one, four-year term. At a postelection news conference in Washington last week, Dean indicated again that he didn't plan to stay on, aides said on Monday....
Dean was the architect of a "50-State Strategy," investing money and staff in every state — including those where Democrats had long fared poorly — to build party infrastructure and lay the groundwork for electoral gains. The Obama campaign, working with DNC organizers in all 50 states, won several states that had not elected a Democratic president in decades, including Virginia, North Carolina and Indiana.
State party chairs were generally thrilled with Dean's approach, while some Democratic leaders in Washington complained early on that the party's money would be better spent helping candidates who had a real chance of winning.
The disagreement broke into open warfare in 2006, when Dean clashed over money and strategy with New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who ran the party's successful effort to win back control of Congress. Last week, Emanuel accepted the job of White House chief of staff in an Obama administration. Yeah, I heard Emanuel absolutely hates Howard Dean. National progressives are not too thrilled with Obama's choice for Chief of Staff, if you hadn't heard.
To cheer yourself up, go over to Salon and read this great article by Mike Madden:
As Dean leaves the helm of the Democratic National Committee, one thing is clear: He got it right with his controversial 50-state strategy.
A true man of vision, he is. This is actually the first Dean article I've seen that makes any mention of a potential Cabinet position. Health would be appropriate, not necessarily because of his background as a physician but because of the brilliant way he instituted health care for the people of Vermont when he served as governor. There's a lot of experience there I'd hate to see go to waste just because the guy who's got Obama's ear hates Dean.
Or check out this Salon article called "Howard Dean, vindicated" by Joe Conason.
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
Basically,
everything passed in today's (Saturday's) manager's bill (Reid's
amendment) is the Democrat's response to Howard Dean's call to improve
the legislation. 
Ryan J. Davis, Huffington Post
This note from the Progressive Populist:
There is no weirdness too weird for the genuine Deaniac. I should know. I’m one of them.
Today is a national holiday in Deanland--the 60th birthday of our beloved gov, Howard Dean. You don't look a day over 59, Howard!
