Howard Dean Talks Budget Reconciliation (Video Exclusive)

By Lindsay Beyerstein

Last night, I quite unexpectedly scored an exclusive video interview
with Howard Dean at the 92nd St YMCA where he was promoting his new
book on health reform.

I asked him about the chances that Democrats
will try to use budget reconciliation to pass a health care bill and
thwart a filibuster. The conventional wisdom is that reconciliation is too risky. Dean begs to differ. Watch

14 thoughts on “Howard Dean Talks Budget Reconciliation (Video Exclusive)”

  1. Thanks.
    I’m glad that Dr. Dean is working hard to keep the Democrats focused on the promises they made and were elected for.
    Better Medicare for more people is a simple, workable first step to the solution.

    Reply
  2. Thanks.
    I’m glad that Dr. Dean is working hard to keep the Democrats focused on the promises they made and were elected for.
    Better Medicare for more people is a simple, workable first step to the solution.

    Reply
  3. He looked a little nervous at first – like he wasn’t sure when you’d bust out with the “YOU LIE” or something.
    Interesting interview, though. Good job.

    Reply
  4. He looked a little nervous at first – like he wasn’t sure when you’d bust out with the “YOU LIE” or something.
    Interesting interview, though. Good job.

    Reply
  5. Great line there. “Reality will always trump fear and anger.”
    I couldn’t make out all the words just before that because he was talking so fast. Something about Republicans and “all they are selling.”

    Reply
  6. Great line there. “Reality will always trump fear and anger.”
    I couldn’t make out all the words just before that because he was talking so fast. Something about Republicans and “all they are selling.”

    Reply
  7. That’s a beaut. Congratulations on getting it. Listening to Dean analyze the politics is almost like sitting in a university and hearing well-informed people discuss real issues.

    Reply
  8. That’s a beaut. Congratulations on getting it. Listening to Dean analyze the politics is almost like sitting in a university and hearing well-informed people discuss real issues.

    Reply
  9. That was a nice snippet; I enjoyed listening to Dean.
    Off topic, and I hesitated to say it for fear of sounding sexist, I think you have a lovely voice, Lindsay. It reminded me of some of the best BBC interviewers I grew up listening to.

    Reply
  10. That was a nice snippet; I enjoyed listening to Dean.
    Off topic, and I hesitated to say it for fear of sounding sexist, I think you have a lovely voice, Lindsay. It reminded me of some of the best BBC interviewers I grew up listening to.

    Reply
  11. No time to do the whole thing, but here’s a quick transcript of the last part (from about 2:00) that was a little harder to make out:

    “Implementing this immediately… it can’t be implemented in full immediately, but implementing it immediately for siginficant numbers of Americans is gonna deflate all the lies the Republicans tell about this bill. Once people actually start to sign up they’re gonna find out all those things weren’t true.
    “And the model for this is the civil unions bill that I signed 10 years ago. People thought… were told all kinds of things were gonna happen — none of them happened. Now, once civil unions actually went into effect the issue went away.
    “Once health care reform actually goes into effect the Republicans — who only are selling fear and anger, that’s all they’re selling — that has to go away, because reality will always trump fear and anger.”

    Reply
  12. No time to do the whole thing, but here’s a quick transcript of the last part (from about 2:00) that was a little harder to make out:

    “Implementing this immediately… it can’t be implemented in full immediately, but implementing it immediately for siginficant numbers of Americans is gonna deflate all the lies the Republicans tell about this bill. Once people actually start to sign up they’re gonna find out all those things weren’t true.
    “And the model for this is the civil unions bill that I signed 10 years ago. People thought… were told all kinds of things were gonna happen — none of them happened. Now, once civil unions actually went into effect the issue went away.
    “Once health care reform actually goes into effect the Republicans — who only are selling fear and anger, that’s all they’re selling — that has to go away, because reality will always trump fear and anger.”

    Reply

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