Gov. Tim Pawlenty kept up his drumbeat of criticism of Democratic plans to overhaul the nation’s health care system today, on the op-ed page of the Washington Post.
In a column headline, “To Fix Health Care, Follow the States,” Pawlenty repeated the assertion he has made several times recently that the states — Minnesota in particular — are doing a better job of getting a handle on health care costs and access than Washington.
Quoting former House Speak Newt Gingrich, he concludes, “Congress is considering a 1975 socialized medicine model, brought up 34 years later by people who have been in Congress since the early 1970s. The world has moved on. It’s time for Democrats in Congress to catch up.”
Since announcing he won’t seek a third term as governor, Pawlenty has been test-driving an increasingly-visible role as a next-generation national Republican spokesman, possibly with an eye toward a 2012 presidential run.
Postscript: Today’s Post also has what seems to be the definitive word (for now, at least) on John McCain’s flirtation with Pawlenty as a potential vice-presidential running mate, a process that first piut Pawlenty on the national political radar.
In an excerpt from a book about the 2000 campaign, two Post reporters assessed Pawlenty thusly:
“Pawlenty was young and vigorous, a conservative who had grown up in a blue-collar family — his father was a truck driver — and he was anti-abortion. He had won reelection in the Democratic year of 2006 and was seen as a future leader of the GOP, an advocate of modernizing the party without abandoning its conservative principles. Though not particularly flashy, he was seen as a more than credible choice, a running mate who might keep the Upper Midwest competitive. He was the safe choice if [Alaska Gov. Sarah] Palin faltered.”
In the end, though, they wrote that McCain’s brain trust concluded, “Pawlenty was credible and acceptable, but once the convention was over he would disappear.” Ouch.
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35 Responses to "Pawlenty raps Dems’ health care plans — again"
Oy, Pawlenty quoting Gingrich, that’s about as rancid as it gets.
An incoherent column by Governor Toothy, chock full of lies like “Washington takeover of the health care system”, “1975 soci*lized medicine”, “explosion of government programs” and “market based solutions” in an anticompetitive market.
Like all Repubs, Pawlenty cheerfully lies to people and intentionally misleads them, and the right-leaning WaPo is delighted to spread the conservative lies.
But the greatest hilarity may be denouncing a proposed new federal government health plan by—wait for it—appealing to the excellence of Minnesota’s state health plan for gub’mint employees. Yep, that certainly proves that a national gub’mint health care plan is certain to be a failure!
Ah yes, more civility from Parthian who makes hypocrisy his motto for life.
Gee, why wouldnt somebody have doubts about our beloved Govt (with its unfathomable deficits) watching the Clunkers program…….
And Medicare is such a stunning success, what are its future unfunded liabilities?
Healthcare spending isnt rocket science, and unless one lowers utilization–
1. The lazy, fat citizens take better care of themselves.
WONT HAPPEN
2. Doctors stop overordering tests to the extreme avoid lawsuits.
WONT HAPPEN
3. People visit nursing homes every year to learn that living the longest possible life isnt always the best option, especially with expensive end of life care, that might add a few weeks to a greatly disabled person’s life.
WONT HAPPEN
Yet, watching the incoherence of parth, or an IOaM Dora’s inability to acknowledege that overordering tests is a huge problem, I can only laugh and laugh.
And no matter what, when people act like ostriches, healtcosts WILL soar.
Our leaders are stupid= Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid, etc = simply look at the budget, Geitner commnets, or the administration of a program like CARS, Why would anybody have confidence with this pack of liars…..
and they ARE the people who passed the current budgets in the last Congress!
It wasnt a Repub Congress in 2007-8, despite the revisionist claims on the old BQ.
Sorry, Timmy. I too disagree with the entire notion of allowing Washington to run our health care system. However, trying to hold Minnesota up as an example of what can be done at the state level to minimize costs is a little bit of a stretch. Our costs are low because of the overall health of our citizens, fitness habits, education level, and access to facilities like Mayo. Our premiums for health coverage (from private insurers) are much lower than most other states as a result.
But this has very little to do with how the state government is or isn’t involved in our health care system, in my opinion.
This from a luxury steak gobbler. How many pounds overweight are you, 6DJ? How many miles a day do you drive your monster pickup all over Bachmannistan and back? Do you carry your clubs on the course or drive your *ss around in the little go-carts, Mr. Active?
“Doctors overordering tests to avoid extreme lawsuits…”
Blathered out day after day without once making reference to a single relevant data source.
“Living the longest possible life isn’t always the best option…”
But, but, but demonic DEMS are the ones advocating rationed care and Repubs say their plan will promote euthanasia—which conservative 6DJ apparently advocates!
“to not want their gub’mint messing around in their business”
This from the ex-communist. Now after his conserv-conversion, he knows that “at the heart of Americans” is a desire to have unchecked, for-profit corporate power messing around in their business!
I’d be interested in some stats on what effect QCARE has had on MN health care delivery. It really hasn’t been implimented all that long, yet TPaw seems to think it’s a smashing success.
Also, it’s kinda cute to see “Gov No”, the man who spent his first few years in office cutting health care appropriations from the budget, flip-flop into a health care guru, proposing universal care for all children and vulerable adults.
This is a headline taken directly from right-wing garbage troughs, from a Fox News video. As we suspected, you’re simply a gorger at right wing cesspools, Mr “Independent”….
“Guv No”
And you’re so stupid you can’t even recognize when monty IS making a completely original point about Pawlently’s health care “makeover”. God, you are brain dead moron.
WASHINGTON — Two of President Barack Obama’s economic heavyweights said middle-class taxes might have to go up to pare budget deficits or to pay for the proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
The tough talk from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers on Sunday capped a week that brought rare good news for the economy: The worst recession in the United States since World War II could be on the verge of ending. Even so, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits.
Geithner and Summers both sidestepped questions on Obama’s intentions about taxes. Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to reduce the federal deficit; Summers said Obama’s proposed health care overhaul needs funding from somewhere.
Jeez, look who’s talking. All you see is the label, and you fixate on it. You miss whatever point there is to the discussion entirely. You’re like a northern, you see a sparkle or a flash and the strike reflex takes over.
Try to think with your brain and not your glands, Tiny.
John Hockenberry: I’m going to come at you pretty hard right at the top here. There’s a Democratic majority in the House, a Democratic majority in the Senate, Democrats have the White House, it would appear that one might conclude that there’s a consensus in America that the Democrats’ vision is what should proceed in the government here, and for you and some conservative Democrats to stand in the way of that suggests that you’re standing in the way of a national consensus. How is that not the case?
Rep. Jim Cooper: I think if you look closer at this, you’ll discover the Blue Dog Democrats are probably more in agreement with the White House and President Obama on his three priorities of deficit neutrality, bending the cost curve in the right direction, and a bill that works. We’re more in tune with the White House than House leadership is. People need to understand that. They also need to understand that regardless of what we want to have in a bill, it has to have 60 votes in the U.S. Senate. That’s they key threshold. Because there are plenty of Democratic votes in the House, but how do you get 60 votes in the Senate? That’s going to take some kind of bipartisanship whether we want to have that or not. And while Senator Baucus is working on one bipartisan approach there are others. There’s the so-called “Healthy Americans Act,” the Wyden-Bennett bill, the SU Emerson Bill in the House, which is much more bipartisan that what Senator Baucus has been working on.
John Hockenberry: Is there a target for you and your colleagues in the House as you look at a version that you could actually vote for? Is it a price tag issue? Is it a co-op issue? Is it a government voluntary hybrid system?
Rep. Jim Cooper: The Congressional Budget Office has tested all the congressional bills so far and — guess what? — every one so far has failed except for the Healthy Americans Act, which is the one they won’t let us talk about. The President has insisted repeatedly, he did it on prime time television last week, the bill has to be deficit neutral. It has to bend the cost curve in the right direction. And so far the House bill is bending the cost curve in the wrong direction. That’s the opposite of reform. So it’s important to look at the details of this bill. It’s 1,000 pages long. We had a five-hour walk-through just the other night. That’s one hour for ever 200 pages. We still don’t feel comfortable with everything that’s in the bill. We’re working on it. We want the Obama administration to succeed at passing good health care legislation. We can do it on the President’s timetable which is this fall. We’re working 18 hours a day to get this done. I think the key is to realize that Blue Dogs are more in tune with the President’s budget priorities than the House leadership.
“the states — Minnesota in particular — are doing a better job of getting a handle on health care costs and access than Washington.” TP
Then why take the budget axe to MNCARE big time? to pit lower income workers and businesses against the indigent? Is that kind of class warfare okay?
Yes let’s do a national plan the MN way
Live healthily enough to never need healthcare and no rate increases! Guaranteed for life. Burial insurance included.
Ah yes, the Republicans want health care reform. That’s why they’re busing mobs to Democratic town halls and why John Boehner is applauding it. All bought and paid for by Dick Armey and other Republican front groups. “Mob” is a good word for them.
“If the event were a shouting match, the mob won. Kagen tried talking about the health-care bill, but the roaring chants deafened his attempts. Several elderly people covered their ears and grimaced at the level of noise.”
They certainly are following the playbook that was leaked last week. And how is the news media reporting it? It’s all spontaneous anger. That’s our liberal media all right.
Point to one article in which there were playbooks about how to shut down a town hall, where Democrats bused in mobs to shout down Republican Reps to prevent discussion of the issue, and in which Democratic leadership approved of such tactics.
And don’t bother pointing to demonstrators outside. This is about getting into the townhalls and shouting down the Reps and shutting down the meeting and forcing police to have to escort the Reps to safety.
The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress:
– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the soci@list agenda of Washington.”
– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”
– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”
This delay in the enacting of serious reform or even beginning a serious debate. This is clearly the GOP’ers putting a political victory ahead of the best interests of the country. If right wingers don’t like the public option then great, where’s the alternative?
>”The other guy doesn’t have a plan..” — except for the half dozen I know about but refuse to recognize.
Please, illuminate us.
>”The other side uses dirty tactics..” - like the one’s I’m using now.
Yes, posting the leaked memo, proving this is not a popular, grass roots effort but a calculated tactic by a lobbying group to preserve it’s client’s obscene profits, is such a dirty tactic.
>”The other side tries to shut down all voices but their own…” - like I am doing now.
Shutting down the voices of whom? A paid lobbying group who’s interests run counter to the interests of the nation? Is that who were trying to counter? This is the most important issue of the next 40 years and could very well determine if our system of government can survive, but if you want the big pharma, big insurance, to hijack the debate in the interest of short term profits, I guess you’re entitled to that position. Meanwhile, people are dying for lack of proper medical care.
That “leaked” memo was from someone inside FreedomWorks. Since when is being a whistleblower a “dirty tactic”? And once again I ask, just point to one story about Democrats doing this.
And since when is exposing the mob for what it is shutting down their voices? Have any of them been forceably removed from the events? Have any of them been prevented from entering the events?
CS, I’ve asked twice now for one story about a union or other left leaning organization that put out a playbook about how to shut down a town hall and prevent discussion and bused people in to shout and create chaos during the meeting. If you can’t do that then that answers your question.
Sorry Dora, I have neither the time nor the inclination to engage in your parsing and bumper crop of straw.
I never claimed the left did “exactly” the same thing. But your feigned outrage over tactics so similar to that of the left that it would take a SEM to discern, is just confirmation that you are a blind partisan.
Oh I see, so saying “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” isn’t saying they are doing the exact same thing. Imitating someone isn’t doing the same thing. Look who’s parsing now. Mr.-Blind-Himself-Partisan, CS. Couldn’t find anything, eh?
Outside demonstrations don’t count because what they are doing now is not similar to those.
Dora, you’ve got this all wrong, these are concerned citizens exercising their first admendment rights of free speech and should be encouraged. Not only that but they should be engaged. Not only that but they should be photographed. Not only that, but if the spirit moves a fellow citizen, they should be shouted down and harassed all the way out to the bus that brought them to the meeting. If the right wants to play these games, then the left should welcome them. I’m sure the corporate money will very soon become not worth the consequences.
hahahaha CS. There’s no connection between Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks (except there is) and that memo never said any of that (except it did). He got busted, it got media traction, and now they’re backpedaling with the help of their media outlets. Gee, nobody could have predicted that.
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