I finally get why Dean can't be in charge of HHS.

[IdaBriggs]

I don't like it, but I get it.

Yahoo news put up this article http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/sebelius_hhs

with an interesting spin that got me thinking. One of the quotes is this:

"Obama will introduce Sebelius on Monday afternoon in the White House East Room. The announcement of his health and human services secretary nominee comes just days before the president holds a White House summit on health care. Lawmakers from both parties and representatives of major interest groups, from insurers to drug companies to consumers, will attend.

Gaining their support — as well as winning confirmation — are among the 60-year-old governor's first challenges. A vast bureaucracy that handles everything from Medicare to cancer research to food safety awaits her. She will also be a very public face for Obama's plans for health care, although a White House-based counterpart will handle many of the new policy moves.

Originally, the president had counted on former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to shepherd his health overhaul agenda through Congress. Daschle would have worn two hats: health secretary and head of a White House health reform office. He was on a first-name basis with many in the Senate, where health care legislation faces its stiffest test."

The bold is from me. We can't have Dean because he *is* partisan, especially after running the DNC. Reality is that he, personally, is pretty much responsible for the Republicans loss of power.

Well, that and the fact they are incompetent fuckwits.

Bums me out. The position actually requires a grown-up to be in charge, and Dean despite being beautifully qualified, would be like waving a red flag in the face of the opposition: YOU LOST. It wouldn't matter how good his ideas are, the opposing folks would TRY to sabotage everything he does just for the payback of trying to make him look bad regardless of what it does to the country.

It would be like putting Michael Moore (an incredible human being I respect and admire) in charge. Heads would explode, and everybody would be so busy screaming their outrage, nothing would get done.

Governor Dean deserves the thanks of a grateful nation, but unfortunately, Obama is going to have to find a position for him where his partisanship isn't a liability. He was able to do it with Hillary; by playing to her greatest strengths -- the relationships she's already built overseas and in the legislature, she is in a better place to benefit this country than (in my opinion) she would have been as President, where the bad guys would have spent her entire term trying to destroy her. Now, they can pick between Hillary, and fill-in-the-blank terrorist folks.

Well, there you have my insight for the day. Sigh. Bummer. Obama is a smart guy; I don't think he'll waste the talents of Governor Dean. Hopefully he'll find a good fit.

Best, Ida the Insightful :)

ON EDIT: Fixed the ending of Bold/put in an excerpt thingy.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Ida

know, but I think your point is well-taken.

[MoJoWorkin]

2. Agreed. That is what I have been saying, and I was an early Deaniac for 2004

[msongs]

3. the doctor is not a brown noser, suck up, center right or clinton era retread lol nt

[SharonRB]

4. What you say makes a lot of sense

:hi:
How are you and the twins doing?

[IdaBriggs]

11. They just turned two last week, and they are AMAZING!!!

They are considered 'developmentally advanced' for their ACTUAL age, which is amazing since they were two months early. My son is counting to 30 in English, 11 in Spanish, and knows his alphabet/numbers, including the sounds. My daughter is speaking sentences ("I don't want to go to bed!"), knows about half of her alphabet (she keeps getting squished by her brother, who jumps in when she is working on it), can count to 10 in English, and has CRAZY problem solving/fine motor skills.

[SharonRB]

39. That's great, Ida.

They sound like two little geniuses. Girls always speak in sentences before boys do. My mom used to tell me I spoke in paragraphs by the time I was a year old. Glad they're doing so well.

[NashVegas]

5. I Don't Know If You Caught This The Other Day ...

But a bunch of netroots groups announced they are banding together to keep up pressure on the Obama admin to uphold Democratic ideals.

Democracy for America is among the groups.

[eridani]

6. Yep. Consumers are listed last

I'm shocked! SHOCKED!! I tell you!

[jjray7]

7. Don't agree

Obama is spinning his wheels if he thinks any of the Republicans in the House are going to sign on to his healthcare plan. Bi-partisan is unattainable on certain issues (and healthcare is one of them) in the era of Rove and Limbaugh. They are scorched earth humans, meaning if anyone in the party disagrees with them then they are eliminated. Remember the vote in the House on the bailout--zero Republicans voted for it. Just forget the House. In the Senate, focus on the two Republican ladies from the Northeast (Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe) and maybe Arlen Specter. You just need one of these three to get it done. Dean is a fighter and that is what HHS needs, not someone who is going to roll over. Obama wants someone at HHS who appears to be a moderate but that's a shame. Getting his healthcare reform legislation passed is going to be a vicious partisan battle.

[MoJoWorkin]

9. But the public will not see Obama as so partisan with Sebelius.

He must keep the PUBLIC on his side, and Dean is too easy for the Repugs to paint into that partisan corner.

We can keep the likes of Collins, Snowe and Specter more easily with someone like Sebelius, and that is really what we need to do.

You haven't looked closely enough at Sebelius if you don't think she is a fighter. She just has a different style. There are ways to fight that are not so in-your-face, that are often times better at getting a job done--especially in this instance. I believe she is a very good choice.

I still love Dean, but I am being a realist here.

[Profprileasn]

10. it's a shame that bi-partisan isn't possible

[janet118]

19. I'm with you . . .

except you can't count on all the Democrats to go along with any health care plan that isn't some half-ass corporate compromise like the Massachusetts plan (which does not work). I don't think Dean would stand for this - he knows too much. The big problem with Dean is that, although Republicans don't like him, there are many Democrats of the DLC school of thought who truly hate him.

I think the fact that Dean isn't being considered for HHS is a good indicator that the so-called "affordable health care for all" plan will depend heavily on the meanings of "affordable" and "all." And that those definitions will be decided by people who get great, government-provided healthcare with a lot of input from their corporate campaign donors.

[tomp]

21. the only plan that is going to work is one that is imposed...

...on the insurance and pharmaceutical industries based on popular demand, logic, and the interests of the country. negotiating with either entity is a prescription (you'll pardon the pun) for failure. single payer universal health care is the only way that makes sense and it cannot be negotiated because the insurance and pharmaceutical industries ARE THE PROBLEM.

[Kahuna]

8. That's what I said weeks ago. No diss towards Dean, but Obama wants

somebody who can work capital hill. Dean isn't that person. OMG~ The nasty remarks I encountered. You would have thought I killed Santa or something.

[acmavm]

12. People here can excuse anything. They wouldn't even have

anything to excuse if not for Howard Dean.

edit: took out the remark posted in anger.

[Bread and Circus]

13. Hadn't thought of it that way. I wanted Dean too. Good post.

[cascadiance]

14. Rethugs should be reminded that losing has consequences, NOT expectations of accomodation!

They shouldn't be expecting the president to roll over for them... The American people certainly don't!

[ecstatic]

15. I still think Obama will try to find something for him

Especially now that he's made his feelings public. But if not, it's not the end of the world people!! Dean will be just fine! :)

[Road Scholar]

16. Very insightful. Thank you for sharing your views on this.

K&R

:kick:

[conscious evolution]

17. Pukes howled when Dean set up the

50 State strategy but he did it anyway despite their crys.
My bet is he would ignore the howls as Sec of HHS,also.

[tomp]

22. some dems howled, too. nt

[bertman]

18. Rec. If Dr. Dean were head of HHS all we would hear about would be "The Scream". It's the

predictable onslaught of media sabotage that was the deciding factor in this, as Ida has astutely deduced.

As to Obama using Dr. Dean in another capacity, I think that will be impossible until Rahmbo is out of power.

My favorite part of Ida's insight was "Well, that and the fact they are incompetent fuckwits."


:rofl:

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. "It would be like putting Michael Moore in charge"

No it wouldn't. Michael Moore is a film maker. He made an excellent film regarding health care here vs the rest of the planet, and no doubt learned a great deal on the subject in the process. And his movie brought the subject to the attention of many people who hadn't considered the seriousness of the issue before then. But that's where his experience with the issue ends.

Howard Dean is a doctor as well as a former governor and party chairman. He knows the medical AND the political sides of the issue. There was nobody better qualified for the position than him.

Partisan? So fucking what. We did win, and there's not a goddamn thing wrong with saying so. Change? anybody remember that? That's what the voters wanted, and health care is one area that needed change the most. Fuck what John Boner, DICK Shelby, and Mush Limpbrain think. You'll never do enough to shut those idiots up, so no point in trying.

[tomp]

23. correct. the op's argument = fail.

the terrible analogy proves it.

[alarimer]

24. Also he is not in the pocket of insurance companies.

Which may be a bigger reason. Sibelius is pretty good I think (at least she seems to have stood up for consumers as insurance commissioner in Kansas) but I am afraid of any appointment announcement attended by representatives from insurance companies. In my opinion, they are the real problem here. Health care is not the problem; we have very good health care in this country. It's health INSURANCE that limits people's access. The stupid beancounters in charge make sure that no one gets the best care and that, even with insurance, a major problem can bankrupt a person.

[madfloridian]

25. Oh, my yes, we are all post partisans now.

We sure don't want to raise the ire of the other party.

:sarcasm:

Dean is out of national party leadership now..and he won't be invited back. We should all be concerned at that. That the only acceptable criterium is ....wait for it...not to be a fighter but to NOT be a fighter.

How tragic.

I disagree with your insult of Michael Moore and Howard Dean in the same sentence.

[FLAprogressive]

35. it looks like DU is slowly drinking the "bipartisan" kool-aid.

this isn't good.

[goforit]

26. Nope.....Its all about Emanuel!!! A DLC fight in 2006. Emmanuel sucks.

[Individualist]

33. Precisely

DLC hates progressives.

[leftchick]

27. 'White House-based counterpart will handle many of the new policy moves'

and who would that be? Another part of the coterie of special interests.....


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5159769

[Faryn Balyncd]

30. The sickening reality is that Obama may appoint a Health Czar who wants to PRIVATIZE MEDICARE.......

The voucher plan that Zeke Emmanuel has been working on for several years would force future retirees to purchase private insurance. Rather than giving all Americans the option to buy in to Medicare, it would force the opposite.

The job that no one, including the government, have been able to do ---- that is, CONTROLLING HEALTH COSTS ---- would be dumped in the lap of retiring seniors, who would be in a totally weakened bargaining position (specifically, they would be forced to purchase one of the overpriced insurance products.

Howard Dean is on record stating that ANY "reform" will either succeed or fail based on whether it contains a "PUBLIC OPTION", which the Zeke Emmanuel plan pointedly DOES NOT.

It appears that Howard Dean was snubbed pecisely because he WOULD NOT have caved in an supported a Zeke Emmanuel plan to "phase out" (PRIVATIZE)Medicare.

It's time we wake up.

Supporters of Single Payer are NOT EVEN INVITED to the Health Summit.

If we don't watch out, we may see our own party putting forth a so-called healthcare "reform" plan that is an insurance CEO's wet dream, and a nightmare to future retirees, and all Americans.

[leftchick]

36. that would be hillary's health plan she ran on

great for the health care 'industry' (do other countries use this term) horrible for people.

:(

[librechik]

28. They could put ANYONE in charge and the Pukkkes would oppose Obama.

the game is to make him fail no matter what so the GOP can run on his failure in 2010 and 2012. It doesn't matter how bipartisan the program, how friendly the person is with Congress oor how many lines they have on their resume. If they have a D by their name they will be opposed. If the have an R by their name and they agree to work with/for Obama, they will be opposed. If someone held a gun to their heads, they would still oppose Obama. They have nothing to live for except to oppose Obama in whatever he attempts to do. Period.

[Bryn]

29. I wanted Dean to have what he wanted

He was the one that helped me through when I was so down when Bush was back in charge again in 2004. Dean's a great guy. :)

[madfloridian]

31. "a grown up to be in charge"????

Really, you really said that?

What an insult.

[IdaBriggs]

42. Didn't mean for it to be; was thinking of the importance of the position

and how the person has to be calm, cool, collected, super organized, able to work with EVERYONE at the table, listen to other people for different ideas/ways of solving problems, etc.

You know: A GROWN-UP.

As opposed to a Bush appointee who comes to the table only willing to work with folks who vote Republican, who doesn't have to have any silly little things like 'qualifications' and 'experience' as long as they have family members who donated large amounts of money, thus qualifying them to edit papers on global warming (and yes, that little incident still has me enraged!), who is simply using it .

If it wasn't for his extremely partisan past, I think Dr. Dean would be perfect for the position. I consider him to be a grown-up who exhibits every single positive trait I mentioned, and frankly, I think folks who can do that are few and far between.

:hi:

[Cleita]

32. But it blows the argument of being non-partisan and reaching out to all

political sides of the spectrum, when people who are experts and near experts in the health problems of this country like Howard Dean, Michael Moore, the Physician's For A National Health Plan aren't given an equal place at the table because they are viewed as too far to the left or, get me the smelling salts, socialists! It shows that our new leaders are centrists leaning toward conservative and anyone left of that is just left out.

[FLAprogressive]

34. Rahm Emanuel and his Napoleon Complex.

That's why.

[merh]

37. Ida bet you are right.

thank you for posting this.

[madfloridian]

38. You are advocating post partisanship at the expense of a great party leader.

I don't know if that is what you intended, but that is in effect what you said.

I am seeing more and more here put the opinions of Republicans first. :shrug:

[IdaBriggs]

41. Not advocating -- understanding.

And I think Dean, a GREAT leader, needs to be included somewhere. He is too talented to waste, in my opinion.

:)

[gristy]

40. That sounds about right