Howard Dean: I Wonder If Obama Has the 'Legal Authority to Do This'

[legcramp]

[Mass]

1. Authority to do what? He said he asked the state commissioners to do that.

He said he did not have the authority to do it himself and that anything else would have to go through congress. What part of this does Dean not understand?

[lostincalifornia]

3. Exactly. I do not understand why so many in our illustrious media fail to discern that

[legcramp]

4. Maybe Dr. Dean doesn't think that the state commissioners

have the authority to change Federal law?

I know Arizona got their asses handed to them for messing with Federal immigration laws.

[Bandit]

5. The Law is not being changed by anyone

Obama is suggesting a Delay, just as he did for Businesses to get more prepared for full implementation. No changes being made in the Law at all.

[Whisp]

13. That is really disappointing then. Why the hell wouldn't Dean know this?

wtf.

Very dissapointing.

Is he one of those Clinton Oathkeeper people? I always thought he was a pretty well straight up guy, but this makes me really wonder. If what all you are saying, Dean is either a fool or a tool.

[PoliticAverse]

21. If Romney had been elected President, could he have decided to delay the individual and employer

mandate?

[FarCenter]

25. The ACA law contains specific dates when its provisions come into force.

[geek tragedy]

2. Howard "de facto Big Pharma Lobbyist" Dean strikes again.

Maybe he can go into business with Lanny Davis.

[pscot]

6. Why big pharma?

I thought the Dr. was pretty clean.

[geek tragedy]

7. $$$$$$$

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114072/howard-dean-obamacare-payment-board-and-k-street

Or maybe it’s not so strange to hear Dean say this. Since his career in politics ended, Dean has found a home in the K Street establishment he once held in such disdain. He’s a strategic adviser to McKenna, Long, and Aldridge, a major Washington lobbying firm whose clients have included health care and pharmaceutical companies. Dean has never registered as a lobbyist, as far as I know, but the distinction is largely illusory. In 2009, one CEO told the publication BioCentury that Dean was “very helpful” in their efforts to loosen federal regulations on drug development.” Another said that “Dean has been a great addition to our team.”

http://www.salon.com/2011/09/01/howard_dean_paid_advocate/

Dean may not be the worst of the “buckrakers,” those prototypical capital characters who exploit their name and connections without regard for principle. But his recent political forays seem to have diverged from his trailblazing left-liberal past.

As senior strategic advisor at McKenna Long & Aldridge, a heavyweight Washington lobbying firm, Dean played a prominent role representing the biotech industry during the healthcare bill debate, staking out a position on biopharmaceutical drugs that was decried by consumer groups.

“Gov. Dean was very helpful to us,” biotech CEO Jim Greenwood told a trade publication “As a physician clearly focused on healthcare, a Democrat leader and clearly to left of center, his efforts were impactful.” Greenwood is the head of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a trade group that lobbies for the industry in Washington.

Dean is also currently one of the most prominent paid voices in a public-relations campaign on behalf of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an obscure and controversial Iranian militant group that is aggressively lobbying the Obama administration to remove it from the official list of terrorist organizations.

[pscot]

8. That's just a crude smear.

A lot of innuendo and not a single statement of fact.

[B2G]

9. Everyone who questions ANYTHING about Obamacare must be demonized,

Maginalized and ridiculed.

Did you miss the memo?

[pscot]

10. Ooops. I used it to light the stove

[geek tragedy]

12. Discussing someone's job is not a smear. nt

[geek tragedy]

11. Here are several statements of fact from what I posted.

--Dean is a senior strategic advisor at McKenna Long & Aldridge,a heavyweight Washington lobbying firm

--Dean played a prominent role representing the biotech industry during the healthcare bill debate, staking out a position on biopharmaceutical drugs that was decried by consumer groups.

--biotech CEO and industry trade group leader Jim Greenwood told a trade publication “Gov. Dean was very helpful to us. ... As a physician clearly focused on healthcare, a Democrat leader and clearly to left of center, his efforts were impactful.”

--Dean is also currently one of the most prominent paid voices in a public-relations campaign on behalf of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an obscure and controversial Iranian militant group that is aggressively lobbying the Obama administration to remove it from the official list of terrorist organizations.

You can ignore the fact that Howard Dean gets his money from the 1% these days, if you want. . .

[Katashi_itto]

14. Quick! Throw Dean under the bus!

[geek tragedy]

15. "Ignore that pharmaceutical lobbyist behind the curtain."

Are people really so naive to believe that his well-paying job representing biotech and pharmaceutical companies doesn't influence his public commentary?

[Katashi_itto]

16. See #8

[geek tragedy]

17. Heh, stating the name of Howard Dean's employer and clients is a smear.

It's just unconscionable to tell the truth about the guy from the BioPharm wing of the Democratic party.

Please don't ever complain about Obama supporters being unquestioning followers.

[Katashi_itto]

18. Hahah...that's a good one.

Considering Obama's track record vs Dean's. I am simply willing to believe Dean more.

[geek tragedy]

19. Do you think the fact that Howard Dean is a lobbyist for the health care industry

is completely irrelevant to his public statements about the ACA?

He's already carried water for them on the ACA by endorsing a Republican proposal to get rid of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, on the editorial page of the Murdoch Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324110404578628542498014414

That said, the law still has its flaws, and American lawmakers and citizens have both an opportunity and responsibility to fix them.

One major problem is the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board. The IPAB is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.

Conservatives loved his taking up the cause of death panels:

http://conservatives4palin.com/2013/07/howard-dean-governor-palin-was-right-about-obamacares-ipab-its-essentially-a-health-care-rationing-body.html

Howard Dean: Governor Palin was right about death panels: IPAB’s "essentially a health-care rationing body"; Updated

Liberals and non-wingnuts were less impressed:

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/07/howard-dean-sells-out-monday-health-care-lobbyist-smackdown-weblogging.html

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114072/howard-dean-obamacare-payment-board-and-k-street

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/07/30/howard_dean_s_war_on_ipab_is_going_just_great_so_far.html

They won't. Today I asked Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders whether he agreed with Dean. At first he didn't understand me. "My iPad works very well," he said. (In his defense, I have a cold that's blurring my consonants today.) When I explained the op-ed, he shrugged and admitted "this is the first I'm hearing about it."

[Katashi_itto]

20. I will give it consideration

[Dreamer Tatum]

23. So, you're a doctor and a political insider with experience.

Gee, those are ideal qualifications for...nuclear physicist. Or NASCAR driver.
Master cheesemaker. Bricklayer. Systems analyst. Backup quarterback.

You'd think a medical doctor with political connections, experience, and
opinions would find something else to do with his life than work in a job
that, oh, creates a nexus between his greatest knowledge, skills, and
abilities.

I don't know what that sellout is doing when he could just as well be in
Russia, designing porn websites. Or running the kitchen at a cute little
bistro. Or something.

[geek tragedy]

24. he's very well qualified for his job, no doubt about it.

But, the nature of his job responsibilities makes anything he says on health care legislation suspect--it's his job to influence that legislation so that Big Pharm and Big Biotech make $$$.

[HijackedLabel]

22. WOOOOOOOO!

[Jesus Malverde]

27. Welcome to DU..nt

[BlueStreak]

26. STFU Howard. The Web site DOES work

Why do these assholes keep saying the website isn't working. It had about 3 bad weeks and has been working pretty well most of November. The website isn't why people aren't enrolling. The reasons why people aren't enrolling are:

1) The deadline is still months off
2) Republicans keep saying it doesn't work when it does
3) "Democrats" keep agreeing with them

I love Howard. But EVERY Democrat needs to stop repeating this bullshit. The site works. Go log on and see for yourself. Stop repeating Republican talking points.

[deaniac21]

28. Yes!