The marginalization of "The Left" through the years. Not hearing us now at all.

[ProSense]

129. My point is

"Dean, whether he is universally liked or not, responded to the disillusionment of a segment of the Democratic Party, invited its members to get active, showed them how, and the result is a much more successful and unified party. "

...that he is a centrist and a deficit hawk. You are making points not really knowing where he would come down. For example, he supports sequestration.

<...>

Looking at Washington and what’s happening there, you came out saying that you think that the sequester wasn’t necessarily a bad idea and perhaps the only way we can get some military cuts. Are you still feeling that way about things now that the sequester has gone into effect?
I am. I mean the House, of course, added some of it back, but I don’t think the Senate will allow that to happen. Look, the military has gotten enormous. They don’t ever cut it and they just keep adding to it. The Congress gives the military stuff the military doesn’t even want. And it was never going to get cut by either the Democrats or the Republicans if they had to vote on the cuts. So, I see this as … you know this is doing some damage to things that I care about and to some people that I care about, but the need to get the military cut is just overwhelming because nothing’s been done for 25, 30 years. So, I think that the military needs to be cut. A lot of the baggage that the Congress put in there needs to be taken out. They need to make some tough decisions between weapons systems instead of just getting everything and that’s what the sequester’s going to do.

So, again, it’s not ideal but, given that they don’t have the guts to cut the military in Congress, this is the best way to get it done.

What’s your prediction about the sequester’s impact on the economy and the middle class?
I think it’ll be fine. There will be some hardships for some individuals, there’s no question about that, but I think that most of the economists’ predictions are going to be wrong.

If you were sitting in the White House right now and looking to make the “Grand Bargain” that everyone talks about, what would that look like to you?
Well, the Republicans are never going to do it. First of all, the Obama administration should have never left all of that revenue on the table for people earning under $400,000 a year. What I would do is I would close a bunch of corporate loopholes like get rid of the oil depletion allowance. And I do think you can reform Medicare without cutting benefits. What you need to do is have Medicare become a program where the providers are paid by the patient, not by the procedure. Because the whole system depends on what doctors do, which is ME, a doctor, and we get paid whether it works or not. It’s a silly way to pay people.

http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/03/interview-gov-howard-dean-talks-about-gun-control-sequester-and-more.html

Uh, he said "reform."

Unless that situation is changed before 2016, we face some tough times.

The Republicans are undergoing self-analysis. They don't seem to be getting very far with it, but at least they are doing it. We Democrats need to start think about our future in a country in which the 99% have been pretty much decimated economically by the 1% that takes it all. That reality is going to become harder and harder to gloss over and touch up.

And Democrats are going to be blamed for it if we don't start doing more about economic disparity between the rich and the rest of us right now.

Like I said, here are things that really will make a difference in people's lives: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2558873

You credit the Republicans with "self-analysis." All I see is a party still trying to dupe people, as the efforts at the link above shows.