Howard Dean versus the White House

Things are getting hot between Howard Dean, who has called for the defeat of the pending Senate healthcare bill, and the White House, which is very angry with Dean. Here is my take:

I completely agree with Howard Dean about the Senate bill. This has now become an embarrassment for the Democratic Party and the president, who have been neutered by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

I would simply employ a different tactic from Dean’s. Hopefully, a progressive senator or two will take a hard stand to change the Senate bill, and if not, the House liberals should refuse to vote for any conference report that does not include a public option or Medicare buy-in, the drug importation provision and price-fixing privileges now granted insurers.

Howard Dean is a genuine national expert on healthcare who is a physician and enacted major reform as governor of Vermont. The president and White House would do well to take his advice, rather than attack him behind the scenes.