Dean: "When Im pushed, I tend to push back"

[shance]

Would love to see more Dems use this philosophy.***

Great interview with Governor Dean from MSNBC. (link below)

(Excerpts:)


NEWSWEEK: You said this week that the United States is no safer after Saddam's capture. Even though there's no evidence he had WMD, aren't we safer not having to worry about his developing them in the future?


Howard Dean: We would be a lot safer if we vastly increased the amount of money we spent to track down known nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere--as I proposed this week--and if we paid more attention to North Korea, which is on the verge of becoming a nuclear power. These are not hypothetical instances, they are urgent national-security matters. Yet this administration was determined to pursue what appears at times to be a personal vendetta against one particular dictator in Iraq rather than on confronting these situations.

-snip-

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3763797/

EDITED BY ADMIN FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS

[madfloridian]

1. This is how a president should act. Great article.

SNIP..."Basically I don't fit into an ideology. I look at facts and then try to decide what the best thing to do is. Now, I believe in social justice. That's a strong piece of who I am. But I also know that you can't have social justice if you don't balance the budget. I'm very conservative about money. Much more conservative than George Bush or anyone else who's running. So I think I'm a little of both...."

Bush looks at his religion, then decides on that basis.

[UrbScotty]

2. Bush doesn't look at his religion. He looks at his approval rating.

If he looked at his religion, he would have become like Christ and not bombed Iraq.

[KittyWampus]

8. So Dean Looked At The Facts Of His Center RIGHT Voting Record

knew they wouldn't fly in the Democratic Primaries and repackaged himself as a Liberal.

Of course, the fact he's mainly using Liberal RHETORIC while espousing Center Left policies will supposedly make it easier for Dean to "look at the facts' yet again so he can repackage himself for the General Election.

[Scott Lee]

10. It would be wonderful if the detractors could keep their story straight

"Dean's too rightwing"

"Dean's too leftwing"

"Dean's too centrist"

"Dean's too libertarian"

"Dean's a religious whacko"

"Dean's not religious enough"


This will give you a headache....

[cryofan]

11. "he's too rightwing" is the only valid one; the others are propaganda....

....propagandda that is put out by writers and TV reporters being paid out of that fat plutocrat-fed treasure chest.

For the truth, just look at Dean's own words. How can you call the person who made the following quotes anything BUT rightwing:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Throughout the 1990s, Dean’s cuts in state aid to education ($6 million), retirement funds for teachers and state employees ($7 million), health care ($4 million), welfare programs earmarked for the aged, blind and disabled ($2 million), Medicaid benefits ($1.2 million) and more, amounted to roughly $30 million. Dean claimed that the cuts were necessary because the state had no money and was burdened by a $60 million deficit.9
....
Most of the Democrats in the legislature rebelled against Dean over the budget cuts, and he ended up depending on Republican votes to pass most of his proposals. At the time, a local Vermont newspaper wrote, "The biggest items on Dean’s agenda for next year are likely to provoke more opposition from the Democrats than the Republicans. Nevertheless, Dean said he feels no particular pressure to deliver the goods to his party or to promote the Democratic agenda."15

In the mid-1990s, Dean even aligned himself with the likes of Republican Newt Gingrich on his stance on cutting Medicare. He opined at the time, "The way to balance the budget is for Congress to cut Social Security, move the retirement age to 70, cut defense, Medicare and veterans pensions, while the states cut everything else."16
....
The Rutland Herald described how one protestor, Henrietta Jordan of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, "said it would be much fairer to raise taxes on people with expensive homes and cars, children in private school and a housekeeper at home than to cut programs that helped the 66,000 Vermonters living with disabilities."17 Dean responded callously, brushing off the pleas of Vermont’s most vulnerable by saying, "This seems like sort of the last gasp of the left here."18"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



my comment: I really find the Dean quotes above quite disturbing. The quotes and the article's detailed, footnoted enumeration of his tightfisted reign in Vermont should be engendering serious doubt in the minds of Democrats about his true political leanings.

The rest of this article is here:
http://www.isreview.org/issues/32/dean.shtml

[cryofan]

3. and when the little people push, then he REALLY pushes back

Gee, I wonder why Dean never tried to balance the budget by raising taxes on the upper class, i.e., his millionaire Silver Spoon cronies? Instead he balanced the budget by cutting taxes and social benefits, all the while laughing and poking fun at lefty liberals. But don't take my word for it.....just read Dean's own words:


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Throughout the 1990s, Dean’s cuts in state aid to education ($6 million), retirement funds for teachers and state employees ($7 million), health care ($4 million), welfare programs earmarked for the aged, blind and disabled ($2 million), Medicaid benefits ($1.2 million) and more, amounted to roughly $30 million. Dean claimed that the cuts were necessary because the state had no money and was burdened by a $60 million deficit.9
....
Most of the Democrats in the legislature rebelled against Dean over the budget cuts, and he ended up depending on Republican votes to pass most of his proposals. At the time, a local Vermont newspaper wrote, "The biggest items on Dean’s agenda for next year are likely to provoke more opposition from the Democrats than the Republicans. Nevertheless, Dean said he feels no particular pressure to deliver the goods to his party or to promote the Democratic agenda."15

In the mid-1990s, Dean even aligned himself with the likes of Republican Newt Gingrich on his stance on cutting Medicare. He opined at the time, "The way to balance the budget is for Congress to cut Social Security, move the retirement age to 70, cut defense, Medicare and veterans pensions, while the states cut everything else."16
....
The Rutland Herald described how one protestor, Henrietta Jordan of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, "said it would be much fairer to raise taxes on people with expensive homes and cars, children in private school and a housekeeper at home than to cut programs that helped the 66,000 Vermonters living with disabilities."17 Dean responded callously, brushing off the pleas of Vermont’s most vulnerable by saying, "This seems like sort of the last gasp of the left here."18"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



my comment: I really find the Dean quotes above quite disturbing. The quotes and the article's detailed, footnoted enumeration of his tightfisted reign in Vermont should be engendering serious doubt in the minds of Democrats about his true political leanings.

The rest of this article is here:
http://www.isreview.org/issues/32/dean.shtml

[stickdog]

4. "Hardcore Socialists Think Dean is Too Fiscally Conservative."

BTW, which Dem candidate do hardcore socialists endorse?

[cryofan]

5. Try addressing the message, not the messenger

Dean is an imposter, and he is not a liberal, but instead is a right winger, a neoliberal, a social darwinist.....

[Melinda]

6. Socialist conduit rag.

Which democratic candidate are the socialists supporting in 2003?

Which democratic candidate are YOU supporting in 2003, cryofan, and how does their platform jive with with that of the Socialist party?

[Rose Siding]

9. "I think it's pathetic that I'm considered the left-wing liberal,"

*smacks head* OMG, he's not a left wing liberal? Who knew? (except of course, ANYONE paying attention)

"I think it's pathetic that I'm considered the left-wing liberal," Dean said. "It shows just how far to the right this country has lurched."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A11710-2003Jul5¬Found=true

Dean '04

[mouse7]

7. Well... this one is ABB

If we're talking hardcore socialist along the Western European/Scandanavian model, then I am one. Look at the standard of living in places like Norway and Sweden. Look at how well the economies function. Look at things like the standard of health care, infant mortality, etc.

The Scandinavian model is clarly the best working model for how to manage economies.

[shance]

12. Cryofan, I used to believe those things as well, but I dont any longer

Are you saying that opinions and beliefs cannot change?

I used to be a Republican and now Im a Democrat. My life experiences, being a woman, and other factors were instrumental in changing my perceptions on beliefs I had held for a long time, or atleast beliefs that I was surrounded by growing up in a conservative area and a Republican family. I believe Deans life experiences along with his candidacy and witnessing the stark realities that our country is now facing have impacted him as well. If we are conscious and aware as human beings, we cannot help but be influenced by the realities around us.

The pendulum is always swinging. It is a problem when the pendulum gets stuck as it tends to do primarily on the right side of the political spectrum. I probably wouldnt be as opinionated or even as driven by my beliefs these days if the pendulum wasnt going off the charts. This is also a vital opportunity for some needed change to occur because people who normally wouldnt be involved in causes are being forced out of their boxes, so to speak. I believe that liberals historically are those that inspire positive change. If taht

If people dont respond, then no change is made. Obviously, Dean has responded, and because of his concern about the direction this country is headed, he has inspired thousands to take action too. He has inspired other Democrats to come forward and to speak out more. He took on an issue that was not a comfortable, safe issue, but it was one he believed was wrong. His speaking out validated Americans across the nation, challenged other candidates playing safely inside the box to get out and begin talking about the real priorities and as a result, I think we are seeing, minus the negative flame throwing, this election get people more interested, motivating people to get more involved and active and is also I beli the best of most of the candidates.

Ask yourself. If Dean is not the best choice, then who is? AND whoever that is, if you care about where we are headed, try being positive and support someone instead of bringing a candidate down. We weaken the progress we are making when we waste time and energy fighting each other.

[Moderator]

13. shance

Per DU copyright
rules please post
only 4 paragraphs
from the news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator

[bearfartinthewoods]

14. please review the posting rules and edit to four paragraphs