Kerry voted to reduce Medicare spending.

[sfecap]

(Gephardt voted against this Resolution in the House.)

Balanced Budget Act - Conference Report

Bill Number: HR 2015
Issue: Health
Date: 07/31/1997
Sponsor:


Roll Call Number: 0209
Conference report adopted
Full Member List


Senator John Forbes Kerry voted YES.

Vote to adopt the conference report on a bill to provide for a balanced budget by 2002. The bill reduces spending by $270 billion over 5 years, including reductions of $115 billion in the rate of growth of Medicare spending, and $140 billion in discretionary spending reductions. The bill includes $24 billion in block grants to the states to provide health insurance to uninsured low income children, partially funded by an increase in the tobacco tax; restores Medicaid and SSI benefits to children as well as legal immigrants in the country before the passage of the welfare reform bill; expands Medicare preventive care coverage; and expands the type of health plans available to Medicare recipients including allowing some Medical Savings Accounts, among other provisions.

HR 2015: The Balanced Budget Act

Vote to adopt the joint House-Senate conference report of the bill to balance the budget by 2002 by reducing spending by $270 billion over five years. The bill includes provisions to reduce the rate of growth of Medicare spending by $130 billion over five years, mainly through reducing reimbursements to health care providers. It also increases Medicare preventive care coverage, including mammograms for women over 40, and expands the kind of health plans available to Medicare recipients, including allowing up to 390,000 people to choose Medical Savings Accounts. Over five years the bill increases Medicare Part B premiums up to $60 per month, provides $1.5 billion to help low income people pay their Medicare premiums, and reduces Medicaid spending by $13 billion. The bill provides $24 billion to the states for health insurance for low income uninsured children, partially financed by a gradual 15-cent increase in the tobacco tax. The bill restores SSI and Medicaid coverage to disabled children, and to legal immigrants who were in the country before the passage of the 1996 welfare reform act. The bill also requires discretionary spending reductions of $140 billion over five years, among other provisions.

(Conference report adopted 85-15 on 7/31/97)

Bill Status:
Bill Number: HR 2015 - 105th Congress (1997-98)
House Passage Vote: 06/25/97 - Outcome: Passed
Senate Passage Vote: 06/25/97 - Outcome: Passed
House Conference Report Vote: 07/30/97 - Outcome: Passed
Senate Conference Report Vote: 07/31/97 - Outcome: Passed
Presidential Action: Signed on 08/05/97
Public Law Number: 105-33 111 Stat. 251

http://vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?vote_id=1393&can_id=S0421103

With all of the Dean/Kerry sniping, it sure looks like they have a couple of things in common...they both like to use a cigarette tax to fund health programs, they believe in preventative care programs, and they recognize that in order to balance a budget, sometines spending has to be limited.

Forgive the header on this post...it is just an example of how the spin gets spun. :-)

This little battle of spin needs to be put to rest...

[AWD]

1. Hmmmm

I just checked.

Webster's Dictionary is currently putting John-John Jr's picture up under the word "hypocritical".

Welcome to 8th place on my list, John-John Jr.

[sandnsea]

2. I think you're confused

The Medicare bill Dean, in his own words, 'spoke favorably' of, was back in 1995, the Domenici plan. It would have cut $270 billion in Medicare spending and was the plan that Clinton vetoed and that shut down the government. Most Democrats voted against this bill. An agreement was finally made that implemented about half those cuts.

In 1997, when the economy improved, Medicare got some cuts and new coverage programs. Some were for it and some against. Dick Gephardt is a traditional Democrat who appears to view U.S. policies in a very traditional Democratic way. Kerry is what I've called a pragmatic liberal. A solid liberal who is willing to look at new ideas if they might deliver traditional liberal services in a better way.

Howard Dean is a liar. He tries to avoid owning up to his position on Medicare in 1995 by diverting from Gingrich to Domenici. One budget was as bad as the other.

He also tries to say he didn't make any service cuts in Vermont, he just threatened to make them in order to raise cigarette taxes. The fact is, he did both. That he did both is NOT the issue; it's that he won't tell the truth about it.

The kind of medical care Dean intends to deliver is important. But we'll never know exactly what that is because he hasn't told a consistent truth about one single thing since he announced his campaign.

[sfecap]

3. I'm not confused at all.

There are times when budgets and spending have to be cut. The decisions are tough.

Kerry voted to reduce spending. I'm sure he didn't like it, but he did it.

Gephardt chose to vote against the Bill, and in doing so would deprive those who the Bill would benefit. Another tough decision.

The fact is that in both of those votes, just like Dean's actions as Governor, different "headlines" could be written, and different spins can be conveyed.

"Kerry votes to cut Medicare spending"

"Gephardt rejects Medicare benefits for low income children."

See how it's done?

You continue to maintain that Dean is a liar. The facts show that as Governor, he did what many other Governors do. He played hardball. He gave the legislators a choice. Cut the programs, or institute a raise in the cigarette tax. It was a offer they couldn't refuse. It was tough politics, but it benefited Dean's constituents. That's why VMS supported it. Did some of the co pays increase a few dollars? It looks like they did. Did the benefit for glasses get suspended for a year? In some cases, yes. But the programs survived, and the benefits far outweighed the slight copay increases, and benefit reductions as far as I can tell. Bottom line, Vermonters have a pretty damn good healthcare program, because they had a Governor who made it a priority.

Now, if you want to argue about a sentence uttered in 1995, taken out of context, I'll pass. It's just not worth the time.

BTW...the "agreement" that was finally made was the Bill cited above, which reduced spending by 130 Billion instead of 240 Billion.

[sandnsea]

4. Today, he's lying today

He's lying about not cutting services to Vermont's medical programs. He's lying about not supporting Medicare cuts in 1995. He's lying TODAY. That's the point, at least that's MY point.

But as to that 1995 Medicare bill, Dean supported huge tax cuts that would have been very hard for the medical industry to absorb all at once. He tries to say he supported Clinton's Medicare plans and Domenici's Medicare plans. Clinton vetoed Domenici's Medicare budget. So not only is he lying about what he supported, he's lying about what type of Medicare cuts he actually supports. Domenici's or Clinton's?

And as to headline spin, do-nothing Washington insiders seems to fit the bill. Especially since Howard Dean wouldn't have been able to do one single thing with Vermont's health care system without the work of those same Washington insiders.

[sfecap]

5. For crissakes...

He's not lying, he supported Clinton's plan. He acknowledged that to balance the budget, cuts would have to be made. He is a fiscal conservative who believes in balancing budgets. (Apparently Kerry agrees with him, as he voted for the Bill, which reduced Medicare spending.)

What services were cut in 2002/2003 in Vermont? Specifically? Some vision and dental benefits (temporarily)? Increased copays are not cuts in health services...


"All 19 Democratic governors endorsed his (Clinton) plan, which he says would eliminate the deficit in 10 years." -USA TODAY, 6/23/95

Governor Dean actually helped lead the attack against the Republicans' Contract with America.

"Dean led the attack today, using figures gleaned from the analysis during his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee's hearing on the contract. Later, Mr. Dean joined Mr. Gephardt and the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, at a news conference to press the issue." - New York Times, 1/13/95

http://www.doctorsfordean.org/gephardtAttack.html

Gep and Kerry need to find a better attack issue.

[sandnsea]

6. For chrissake is right

Cuts are cuts. Dean is not saying that he raised cigarette taxes AND cut services. He is not telling the truth about the budgetary problems with his medical program. He is not telling the truth about his willingness to cut traditional health care services. How far is he willing to go?

Which goes right back to his support of Medicare cuts that he also is not being truthful about. This is from his own web site:

"Howard Dean spoke favorably only of a general proposal put forward in May of 1995 by Senator Pete Domenici to reduce the rate of growth in Medicare."

This is NOT Clinton's plan.

http://dfa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Iowa

[sfecap]

7. Why don't we print the whole thing here?

Instead of slicing out one sentence?

Time for the Truth


Over the past three weeks the Washington candidates have attacked Governor Howard Dean, MD on his health care record, specifically Dean’s position on Medicare during the mid 1990’s. Their attacks, which began in Iowa, have come almost daily and have reached new heights in negative campaigning by organizing the first protest by campaign staff against another campaign and the first attack website sponsored by a major Presidential campaign.

We want you to know the facts.

Governor Dean did not utter a supportive word regarding Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America. In fact in early 1995, he participated in numerous press conferences and rallies opposing the Contract and testified on the Hill about the drastic impact of the Contract.

As a doctor and son of a Medicare patient, Governor Dean simply expressed his frustrations with Medicare's bureaucracy and unfair reimbursement rates in his usual straight forward manner. He still holds these same frustrations today which is why as President, Howard Dean would take the following steps to reform Medicare:

Expanding the system to include a prescription drug benefit;

Increasing the reimbursement rates, particularly in rural and other underserved areas like Iowa;

Making it less complex, bureaucratic and more user friendly for doctors and patients by putting a physician who has worked with Medicare in charge of the program in Washington; and

Stop any effort to include “privatization” in the prescription drug bill or block-grant Medicaid.

What happened from 1995 to 1997?

In the spring of 1995, Dean believed two significant problems needed to be addressed the budget deficit (caused by twelve years of Reaganomics, which Gephardt voted for) and the imminent bankruptcy of the Medicare Trust Fund (estimated in April of 1995 to be out of funds by 2002).

In the budget debates of April and May of 1995, moderate Democrats and Republicans were also putting forward proposals for balancing the budget and for saving Medicare not just right wing Republicans. Howard Dean spoke favorably only of a general proposal put forward in May of 1995 by Senator Pete Domenici to reduce the rate of growth in Medicare.

He was not alone. On May 15, 1995, the Washington Post reported that Chris Dodd and Daniel Patrick Moynihan had been on the Sunday talk shows that weekend acknowledging that there was 'across the board' bipartisan support for reducing the rate of growth in Medicare costs in order to keep the program solvent. Other Democrats supported the Domenici bill in Committee including Bob Kerrey and Sam Nunn.

After May, any chance of reaching bipartisan agreement ended, leading ultimately to the President’s veto in the fall of the Republican Medicare proposal and the shutting down of the federal government.

Ultimately, Dean’s responsible position in the spring of 1995 was validated in 1997, when President Clinton signed and the vast majority of Democrats supported the Balanced Budget Act.

The Act laid out a path to a balanced budget and took steps to reduce the rate of growth of Medicare expenses, which CBO estimated would save $115 billion over five years. Experts now say that Medicare actually spent over $200 billion less over those five years than projected before the BBA. As a result the program is solvent through 2023.

What Representative Gephardt will not tell you is he not only helped create the problems by voting for Reaganomics in 1981, but then voted against the solution when he joined a small group of Democrats in opposing President Clinton and the Balanced Budget Act.

The bottom line

Governor Dean is a deficit hawk and fiscal conservative. He balanced Vermont’s budget 11 years in a row, even though it’s the only state in the country without a constitutional requirement to do so. He set aside a rainy day fund in the good years that has allowed the state to weather the current Bush recession without tax increases and service cuts that other states are now experiencing.

Howard Dean is a doctor and a former governor who has delivered health care professionally and expanded coverage dramatically to Vermonters. Expanding and improving health care have been central to his career and his vision for America.

He is ready to take tough stands that reflect leadership. Whether it’s standing up against the war in Iraq, signing the first civil unions bill or speaking out in favor of tough steps to save Medicare from bankruptcy and to balance the budget Howard Dean has demonstrated precisely the leadership this country needs in this difficult time.

By engaging in the gotcha politics of Washington insiders, instead of laying out positive visions for the future, politicians from Washington are only further demonstrating why the American people are speaking out so loudly for change in this election.

Look at the record. While the other candidates have more than 100 years in Washington between them America’s seniors still don’t have drug coverage and 2.6 million more people lost health insurance last year. Meanwhile, in Vermont, Howard Dean managed to provide some prescription drug coverage to one-third of seniors and to provide 99 percent of Vermont’s children with eligibility for health insurance.

The proof the Washington candidates won't show you:

Governor Dean Fights the Gingrich House Majority, Standing Shoulder to Shoulder With Dick Gephardt in 1995 January 9, 1995:

Dean fights to protect National Governors’ Association from Republican extremists. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let extremists take over the National Governors’ Association.” Dean also reiterated his frustration with working with Republican Governors, “They talk to us and say, ‘Yes, yes, yes,’and then they get intoxicated when (House Speaker Newt) Gingrich get them in the room.” - Washington Post, 1/9/95.

January 9, 1995:

Dean takes on the Gingrich machine’s designs for welfare at the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce: “In an unlikely role for a little-known governor form the third-smallest state, Dean lurched from near obscurity onto the national stage two weeks ago by slamming House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and 15 GOP governors, including Gov. Weld, for privately negotiating a drastic welfare overhaul. “They must be smoking opium in the speaker’s office.’” - Boston Globe, 1/28/95.


January 12, 1995:

Dean testifies against Balanced Budget Amendment before House Ways and Means Committee, and later Dean and Gephardt attended joint news conference emphasizing the negative impact of the BBA on states. “Dean led the attack yesterday, using figures gleaned from the analysis during his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee’s hearing on the contract. Later, Dean joined Gephardt and the Senate Democratic leader, Sen. Tom Daschle, at a news conference to press the issue.” - Washington Post, 1/13/95.

January 14, 1995:

Dean and Gephardt announce Treasury Department study, requested by Dean as Chairman of the Democratic Governors’ Association, showing impact of Balanced Budget Amendment on states. The Washington Post reported, “Democrats such as Dean and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., seized on the study as proof that Republicans must enact far deeper cuts than they’ve acknowledged so far to balance the budget.” - Albuquerque Journal, 1/14/95.

January 28, 1995:

Dean and Gephardt attend Pres. Clinton’s bi-partisan “working session” on welfare reform. - Washington Post, 1/29/95

Dean takes on the Gingrich machine’s designs for welfare:

Dean also called Gingrich and the GOP governors “a partisan aberration that needs to go away.” - Boston Globe, 1/28/95.

"The problem was, the train was coming down the tracks and nobody was saying anything about the plan, Dean said. ‘Somebody had to stand up and say the new speaker’s views do not represent the views of mainstream America, and I was the one who had to do it.’” - Boston Globe, 1/28/95.


“I kind of enjoy whacking the Republicans.” - Boston Globe, 1/28/95.

While in Washington, Dean speaks out about the dire straights for state budgets if welfare reform isn’t distributed fairly between the states and federal government. “States and poor people would suffer disproportionately unless Congress agreed to find savings from Social Security and defense spending as well…Congress should be willing to cut or slow growth in those programs, he said… ‘We just would like to see some similar kind of backbone by the new leadership in Congress when it comes to Medicare, when it comes to Social Security and when it comes to defense.’ Without Social Security and defense on the table, Dean says, cuts in what’s left of the budget would harm states…” - Times-Argus, 1/30/95.


March, 1995:

A profile on Gov. Dean describes his tough talk to Gingrich and extreme GOP voices:

“This winter, Governor Howard Dean has vaulted into the national Limelight as the leading critic of the Republican Revolution led by Newt Gingrich. Using the bully pulpit of chairman of the National Governors’ Association, Dean has emerged as a bold new voice for the battered Democratic Party.” - Vermont Business Magazine, 3/95.

“Dean startled the sleepy Monday morning crowd with a no-holds-barred assault on Newt Gingrich and the Republican ‘extremists who have taken over Congress.’” - Vermont Business Magazine, 3/95.

“Newt Gingrich built his career saying a lot worse things about people than I said about him. You sort of put that aside when you walk in the door.” - Vermont Business Magazine, 3/95.


March 19, 1995:

Dean serves school lunches with Gephardt on the Western steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to emphasize that House Republicans’ proposal jeopardizing free school lunches by transferring the federal program to the states. - Washington Post, 3/20/95.

April 4, 1995:

Dean participates via satellite with Gephardt and other Democrats in news conference to mark final week of the Contract With America.

http://dfa.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Iowa

Yep, sure sounds like a guy who stood with Gingrich.

Let's see...Gephardt acknowledged that budget cuts are necessary, and Kerry votes to balance the budget by reducing Medicare spending.

But Dean's the bad guy when he forces his legislature to raise taxes on cigarettes to prevent deep cuts in helthcare programs.

Uh huh.

[sandnsea]

26. It's the how of it

Dean supported whacking the whole program in 1995. Clinton wanted to do a more measured approach, based on how much the economy improved. That's the difference.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. Yoo-hooooo!

This thread is about Kerry cutting Medicare, not Dean. It's also about hypocricy. When you run to make this thread about Dean, you run away from the points this post was meant to address.







Edit- Notice how you haven't once addressed the original topic? It's very telling.

[sandnsea]

25. Read post #13

I know exactly what this thread is about, post #13 says it all.

[DrFunkenstein]

28. You're Absolutely Right - This Is About The 1997 Plan

"What Clinton signed in 1997 was a law that finally produced a tax cut for ordinary families (introducing the child tax credit, subsequent increases in which Dean now says he wants repealed), and containing spending cuts to pay for it. It is often referred to as the Balanced Budget Act, but in fact it was the booming economy that produced the huge surplus at the end of the '90s. This law, more accurately, produced a tax cut that was responsibly funded.

The spending cuts included a large bite out of Medicare but not the same kind of bite the Republicans fought for with Dean's help in '95. This time around, instead of attacking the beneficiaries (which Clinton opposed), it reduced Medicare payments to providers like hospitals, nursing homes, and physicians. By bipartisan consensus it went too far, especially in its harmful effect on large teaching hospitals, and much of the money has since been restored."

<>

Old enough to remember 1995.

<>

Not old enough to remember 1995.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. Count my Tooffusses!

I see only one Tooth!

[DrFunkenstein]

33. Let's Not Play The Unpleasant Picture Game

Dean would most definitely lose.

BTW - nice to see you are remaining above the fray. Maybe it's time to compare foreign policies again.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

39. Don't be so sure.

I've got a thick file of doosies!



BTW, thank you. Sure, let's discuss foreign policy. Words or votes? Dean only has words...so let's look at votes. I'll start. Subject= the Iraq War Resolution vote. Go!

[DrFunkenstein]

8. St. Howard People Are Jujitsu Masters Of Spin

In the last few days, sensing the political fallout, Dean has come up with a fresh explanation: He was doing something that Clinton supported and actually signed into law. This is even more misleading, an apples and oranges mixture that makes what happened two years later sound like what happened in 1995-96.

Nothing could be further from the truth. What Clinton signed in 1997 was a law that finally produced a tax cut for ordinary families (introducing the child tax credit, subsequent increases in which Dean now says he wants repealed), and containing spending cuts to pay for it. It is often referred to as the Balanced Budget Act, but in fact it was the booming economy that produced the huge surplus at the end of the '90s. This law, more accurately, produced a tax cut that was responsibly funded.

The spending cuts included a large bite out of Medicare but not the same kind of bite the Republicans fought for with Dean's help in '95. This time around, instead of attacking the beneficiaries (which Clinton opposed), it reduced Medicare payments to providers like hospitals, nursing homes, and physicians. By bipartisan consensus it went too far, especially in its harmful effect on large teaching hospitals, and much of the money has since been restored.

Dean now says his willingness to go after middle-class entitlements reflected the deficit crisis of the mid-'90s, but this is also a misleading position. The fact is that the deficit reduction program enacted in Clinton's first year had already put the country on the right road. What the Republicans were pushing in '95 was revolution.

Moreover, the reemergence of fiscal crisis has made Dean's views in the mid-'90s relevant: He has said Medicare should again be on the table if he is president.

Bottom line: Gephardt and Kerry have a legitimate point, and Dean will have trouble expanding his remarkable base to the elderly and to voters of moderate means unless he does a more forthright job of facing up to his past.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/30/past_haunts_dean_on_medicare_issue/

[displacedtexan]

9. i'm not sure i want a candidate who gambles with medicare...

under any circumstance...

had the vermont lege called dean's bluff, we'd be having a very different conversation today. even most school boards don't threaten to cut popular programs unless tax hikes are passed. and those who do threaten such action have to scrape egg off of their faces when their bluff is called and explain that they really didn't mean it.

i also wonder...

what would have happened if FDR had been a fiscal conservative?

and when did 'john-john jr.' become an insult used by dems against other dems? sad.

[DrFunkenstein]

10. I'd Be Proud To Be Compared To JFK

I think he represented the best of what Democrats are capable of. Kerry's record shows him to be one of the most thoroughly decent members of Congress, and someone that could make for one helluva President.

[displacedtexan]

11. well said!

who's been fighting the good fight on the senate floor for all americans? not joe lieberman. his agenda is so obvious.

i want a candidate who has been a lifelong dem, who understands the system (yes, i want a beltway insisder, damn it!), who is comfortable with foreign heads of state, and who can speak eloquently. does that make me a traitor to dean and clark? i don't think so. i admire both men for their courage; however, courage is often just the fear of turning back or the lure of the spotlight.

[KaraokeKarlton]

12. It wasn't a risk at all, not if you understand Vermont politics

If they didn't do as Dean advised them to do, they all would have been voted out at re-election time. Vermonters won't keep politicians who don't support social programs and health care in Vermont. They HAD to do what Dean wanted if they wanted to get re-elected. Vermont politics doesn't just happen without Vermonters knowing what's happening. We pay attention and the press is all over every little thing. Since we don't have much crime, our media has to find news to report, and a lot of that news is politics. Since the whole process here is open to the public, there are reporters present at everything, and everything gets reported.

[dsc]

19. I don't know where you live

but school boards here routinely do this. It is the only way to pass levies.

[polpilot]

13. Kerry Raises Taxes on Poor Smokers and Denies Hospital Benefits To

The Elderly!!!!! Xtra !!! Xtra!!!! Read All About It!!!

Dean '04...The New Democratic Leader of The NEW Democratic Party

[sandnsea]

27. Better vote Gephardt

He's the one who voted against the bill posted, the one Dean supported and the same type of measures he enacted in Vermont.

[KaraokeKarlton]

14. I think someone should put this info on a webpage

And post the link all over the internet...especially to news sites. It's so pathetic that when a candidate is showing he's the best able to beat Bush that anyone would try to destroy that ability out of jealousy, envy and desperation. Kerry and Gephardt are both too damn dull and boring to get voters out and voting in the same way Dean can. I'm disgusted that they would rather see Bush win than either of them lose the nomination to the better candidate for this election. As usual, the Washington Insiders think they should decide for the people instead of letting the people have a voice and decide for themselves.

[revcarol]

15. Now that you've posted agaiinst both Gephart and Kerry,

your disclaimer should be posted for everyone to know who you're FOR.

Past time for some truth in slamming.

[dsc]

24. read his sig line

If you still don't know who he supports after doing so that is your fault not his.

[blm]

16. Kerry isn't for deregulating electricity, Dean is. No spin needed.

.

[Rose Siding]

18. No he isn't

Care to post some proof of that? As you know, dereg was backed off of as a goal in VT. Considering how much went on nationally that proved the promised benefits would never materialize, wasn't that a wise choice for Dean to make?

As you can see, VT is still regulated:

snip>
Was deregulation a contributing factor to the blackout? It was the major contributing factor in the blackout. Deregulation left us vulnerable in many ways. In a deregulated market, maximizing profits is the main goal. Supply margins are manipulated to keep supply very low so that prices and profits are high. Maintenance and new construction are stopped and thousands of skilled workers are laid off. 160,000 were laid off in the deregulated markets of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and Ontario. The blackout happened in these areas but not in Vermont and Quebec which are still regulated. Deregulation has such a dismal record that 22 States have now shelved plans to deregulate. Even the World Bank now says, that water and electricity should not be privatized.

http://electricitycoalition.org/resources/Q%20for%20cands%202003_09.htm

If he actually favored dereg, don't you think that in all his years as a successful gov it would have happened? Dean even emerged from the fray without alienating the still regulated industry!

[blm]

21. No thanks to Dean. The legislature wouldn't allow it.

Yet you want to CREDIT Dean because the legislature STOPPED his push for deregulation? HAHAHAH...now that is hilarious.

Read this more carefully. Dean even pushed extra costs on the RATEPAYERS when he sided once again with the industry.



http://timesargus.nybor.com/Legislature/Story/43125.html


Dean raises money from energy sources

February 27, 2002

By David Gram

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTPELIER — When Gov. Howard Dean wanted to raise money for a possible presidential bid, he followed the example of a former governor of Texas and called on his friends in the energy industry.

>>>>>>>

“Administration actions going back some years betray an inappropriate coziness with the utilities,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Service Research Group. “I am not prepared to say it’s a result of contributions given. But these contributions present the appearance of impropriety or appearance of influence that it probably would have been better to avoid.”

Dean’s close relationship with utility representatives dates back to the day he became governor in 1991. A lobbyist for Green Mountain Power and a GMP employee were among the first people Dean called in to help his transition.

A list of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers includes Green Mountain Power Corp.’s chairman, two company board members and a vice president, all of whom made donations to the Fund For A Healthy America. It also includes two longtime utility lobbyists.

Over the years, the governor has sided with the utilities on many of the most pressing issues, including the push for deregulation of the electric industry, and later backing away from that as a goal. Among other major decisions:

— After years of pushing for the companies to absorb the excess costs of their expensive contract with Hydro-Quebec, Dean’s Department of Public Service agreed to let ratepayers be billed for more than 90 percent of what those excess costs are expected to be in the coming years. The extra costs will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
>>>>>>>

[Rose Siding]

23. What! Electric costs in the US INCREASED!!!?

Dean's fault! "HAHAHAH...now that is hilarious."

Good luck hunting with that dog.

[blm]

29. Good luck defending deregulation. You, Arnold, and Dean.

.

[Rose Siding]

31. Good luck proving Dean supports it!

:crazy:

[blm]

32. He has boasted of supporting deregulation.

http://timesargus.nybor.com/Legislature/Story/43125.html

Dean raises money from energy sources

February 27, 2002

By David Gram

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTPELIER — When Gov. Howard Dean wanted to raise money for a possible presidential bid, he followed the example of a former governor of Texas and called on his friends in the energy industry.

>>>>>>>
“Administration actions going back some years betray an inappropriate coziness with the utilities,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Service Research Group. “I am not prepared to say it’s a result of contributions given. But these contributions present the appearance of impropriety or appearance of influence that it probably would have been better to avoid.”

Dean’s close relationship with utility representatives dates back to the day he became governor in 1991. A lobbyist for Green Mountain Power and a GMP employee were among the first people Dean called in to help his transition.

A list of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers includes Green Mountain Power Corp.’s chairman, two company board members and a vice president, all of whom made donations to the Fund For A Healthy America. It also includes two longtime utility lobbyists.

Over the years, the governor has sided with the utilities on many of the most pressing issues, including the push for deregulation of the electric industry, and later backing away from that as a goal. Among other major decisions:

— After years of pushing for the companies to absorb the excess costs of their expensive contract with Hydro-Quebec, Dean’s Department of Public Service agreed to let ratepayers be billed for more than 90 percent of what those excess costs are expected to be in the coming years. The extra costs will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
>>>>>>>

And they LOVED him at the CATO Institute where deregulation rules the day.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/073ylkiz.asp

The Appeal of Howard Dean
From the September 15, 2003 issue: Why he could be Bush's more dangerous opponent.
by Stephen Moore
09/15/2003, Volume 009, Issue 01

SEVERAL YEARS AGO an obscure Democratic governor from the politically inconsequential state of Vermont was the guest speaker at a Cato Institute lunch. His name was Howard Dean. He had been awarded one of the highest grades among all Democrats (and a better grade than at least half of the Republicans) in the annual Cato Fiscal Report Card on the Governors. We were curious about his views because we had heard that he harbored political ambitions beyond the governorship.

Dean charmed nearly everyone in the boardroom. He came across as erudite, policy savvy, and, believe it or not, a friend of free markets--at least by the standards of the Tom Daschle-Dick Gephardt axis of the Democratic party. Even when challenged on issues like environmentalism, where he favored a large centralized mass of intrusive regulations, Dean remained affable.

"You folks at Cato," he told us, "should really like my views because I'm economically conservative and socially laissez-faire." Then he continued: "Believe me, I'm no big-government liberal. I believe in balanced budgets, markets, and deregulation. Look at my record in Vermont." He was scathing in his indictment of the "hyper-enthusiasm for taxes" among Democrats in Washington.

He left--and I will never forget the nearly hypnotic reaction. The charismatic doctor had made believers of several hardened cynics. Nearly everyone agreed that we had finally found a Democrat we could work with. Since then, I've watched Dean's career with more than a little interest and we chat from time to time on the phone.

This all may come as a shock to those following Dean's sudden and unexpected leap-frog over the other Democratic presidential candidates. Running sharply to the left, he's become the darling of the angry liberal intelligentsia. For now at least, he seems to have disavowed his credentials as a free-market enthusiast, a tax cutter, and an enemy of big-government excess. >>>>>>>
>>>>>>>

But he weathered the storm. Dean is nothing if not a survivor--as well as an iconoclast. Even as he pursued wild-eyed social experiments, Dean carefully nurtured a reputation as a "business-friendly" governor. On numerous occasions he pragmatically swept aside onerous environmental regulations and last-use restrictions (this is the greenest state of all) to make room for business expansion and jobs, jobs, jobs. He supported electricity deregulation to take monopolistic pricing power away from big utilities. He even launched one of the nation's most progressive voucher programs for high school students.

The word Vermonters use most often to describe Dean is "frugal." Coming into office amidst the early 1990s recession, he cut formerly sacrosanct welfare spending to keep the state out of debt. The Cato analysis shows that during Dean's first four years in office, Vermont's budget grew much more slowly than other states'. He cut income tax rates across the board (much as President Bush did). Although he raised overall business taxes, he approved millions of dollars' worth of incentives to lure smoke stacks back into the Green Mountain State. It was during these early years that the head of the state's powerful Progressive party called him "a very right-wing Democrat." >>>>>>>

[Rose Siding]

34. Where is the "energy" part of that quote?

You have made an incorrect assumption about what he was talking about at Cato.

"Business-friendly" isn't a dirty word provided the businesses operate to the benefit of society.

[blm]

35. "He supported electricity deregulation..."

"He supported electricity deregulation to take monopolistic pricing power away from big utilities."

Funny, the CATO Institute and the Vermont paper, The Times Argus, both say he was for deregulating electricity. If Dean was NOT for it, then surely he would have screamed and demanded a retraction from both of them.

Maybe CATO has a recording of his appearance?

[Rose Siding]

36. He does not support electricity deregulation

Which part of "and later backing away from that as a goal" (TimesArgus) means he supportS energy dereg?

It looks like he learned, as did we all, that there wasn't the upside promised in the big push to deregulate the energy industry. He backed off, VT is regulated. He was very successful in dealing with the legislature. If he had been a continuing proponent, he would have achieved that agenda.

[blm]

38. Only AFTER the legislature wouldn't allow it.

Or maybe he didn't want to get CAUGHT playing ball with the Enron players. He did SEAL HIS RECORDS for a very long time.

[polpilot]

37. Electric!! Electric!!! Electric!! Dean 'electrifies' NEW democratic party!

Dean '04...The New 'Electric' Leader of The NEW Democratic Party

[sfecap]

20. And electricity has what to do with the original post?

n/t

[blm]

22. If your point was about SPIN, then it has everything

to do with the original post.

You are spinning that Kerry is no friend to the people, and I am pointing to the FACT that Dean has not been a friend to the people.

[dajabr]

40. Those in glass houses...

Well, you know the rest...