Howard Dean's Newest Scream: Vote No on Senate Health Bill

We know you can't make all of the people happy all of the time, but it appears that Harry Reid's version of heath reform is quickly making none of the people happy all of the time. After months of Republicans blasting the bill as a massive new government entitlement program, progressive hero Howard Dean is sending his fellow liberals in the Senate a loud and clear message -- "Vote No."

In Thursday morning's Washington Post, Dean says the health bill now in the Senate has morphed into a massive sop to the insurance industry that's masquerading as real reform. Instead of lowering costs and increasing competition, he argues that the bill will do the opposite, hurting seniors and working-class Americans in the process. If Dean were a senator, he writes, "I would not vote for it."

As a doctor, a former four-term governor of Vermont and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Dean has become a leading voice in the progressive community, especially on the topic of health insurance reform. His op-ed is a public repudiation of the Obama White House and the Senate Democratic leadership at the crucial moment when Majority Leader Reid is working desperately to hold the votes of all 58 Democrats and two Independents.

Dean singles out the failure of the Senate to include a public option or a Medicare buy-in to give Americans access to insurance that it not run by an insurance company. Instead, he said the Senate is rewarding a system of runaway costs, skyrocketing premiums, and executives who skim up to one-third of premiums to pay for CEO salaries.

"In short, the winners in this bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced with a bailout in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG."

Dean does stress that he has not given up on health care reform, just on the bill that the Senate has produced so far.

"I know health reform when I see it," Dean writes, "and there isn't much left in the Senate bill. I reluctantly conclude that, as it stands, this bill would do more harm than good to the future of America."

As of this morning, Reid had 59 votes on the bill, and even some of those are squishy. It's hard to see how Dean's nasty-gram gets the Democrats one bit closer to 60. But of course, that's the whole point.