Howard Dean's Fighting Words for Congressman

Howard Dean has never been a man to hide his feelings, and today was no exception.

During an appearance on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" this morning, Dean was asked to respond to a comment about his wife from Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) on yesterday's program, when the congressman offered Dean's wife as evidence of the limits of government involvement in health care. Gingrey said that Dean's wife, "Elizabeth," does not take Medicaid patients in her Vermont medical practice because the government reimbursement rate is so low that she wouldn't be able to provide health care to her own employees. Gingrey is a former obstetrician and chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus.

Dean's response: "Dr. Gingrey is just plain wrong. He's an embarrassment," Dean said. "Also, my wife's name is Judith, not Elizabeth, and she does accept Medicaid patients. So this fella simply doesn't know what he's talking about." And finally, "Good thing he's in Congress because I'd hate to see what he'd do to patients."

Ed. Note: Many thanks to reader who spotted our D/R typo.