Vermont's Physician Presidential Candidate

Report From the States

Vermont's Physician Presidential Candidate

Doug Fiedor

Vermont Governor Howard Dean says that he asked Hillary if she planned to run for president in 2004. "Senator Clinton is not going to be running, and she told me so," Dean said.

Howard Dean is term limited as Governor of Vermont. This is his last term and he has his eye on the presidency. Then we learn that Dean just barely squeaked by in the last election, winning just fifty percent of the vote. No matter, he'll need a new job and, unless Hillary runs, the Democrats need a liberal to run for president. Washington will not run out of liberals anytime soon...

So, it stands to reason they will have to find another relatively unknown candidate, like Clinton was the first time. And Howard Dean, M.D. fills that prescription perfectly. He's young enough to survive a campaign, far left enough to attract money from the wealthy socialists and those willing to buy a quid pro quo and he would probably be willing to pay off the Clintons somehow.

Assuming Hillary will not stab Dean in the back and suck up all the liberal campaign funds so he cannot run, we should take a look to see just who this Howard Dean really is.

There is not really a lot available about Dean, but what we found tells quite enough. As Governor, Dean signed into law tougher penalties for hate crimes and tighter restrictions against discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations. And, under the Dean administration, Vermont became the first state to legally recognize unions between gay and lesbian couples.

Like Hillary, Dean supports socialized medicine. Therefore, he started something called the Fund for a Healthy America "to support the principles of fiscal stability, universal health insurance, better environmental protection, and equality for all Americans. The fund will also assist candidates who are supportive of these issues."(http://www.fund forahealthyamerica.com.)

As governor, Dean expanded Vermont's Dr. Dynasaur program to guarantee health coverage for virtually every child age 18 and under. The State reports that: "Over 92 percent of all Vermonters have coverage --- one of the highest rates in the country --- and 96 percent of all children under 18 are covered. Dean believes the United States needs a health care system which results in coverage for every American."

Also under Dean, Vermont adopted a system of sharing educational dollars across the state, "so schools in poor communities have the same financial backing as those in wealthy communities." In August 2002, Dean told a teachers union meeting that, "We have to be very, very careful not to destroy the public school system with harebrained ideas like vouchers" --- even though Vermont has successfully used a type of voucher system for 133 years.

In 1997, Dean signed into law a very costly mental health and substance abuse parity bill, "ending discriminatory insurance practices against these major diseases." Dean also pushes community-based treatment, as well as comprehensive services for children with mental health problems.

Dean also lobbied Congress to ensure that affordable generic drugs are increasingly available. He proposes tying hospital budgets to their certificate of need process, which he says is "essential to curb the skyrocketing costs of health care."

Strict central control over education, support for homosexual lifestyle and socialized medicine tell enough of the story. Then, add in the typical liberal environmentalism and Howard Dean turns out to be just your typical socialist activist.

Yup. The Democrats got themselves a candidate for president. That is, they do if Hillary keeps her word --- which has never happened before.

Mr. Fiedor publishes a newsletter A Weekly View from the Middle of the Asphalt Jungle that is free at http://www.uhuh.com/reports/headsup/list-hu.html. His e-mail is dfiedor@com cast.net.