Dodd Hits Hillary For 1993 Health Care Mess
Chris Dodd has a tough critique of Hillary Clinton's recent health care rollout: She bungled the issue last time.
"It should be far more than just a parable of personal growth and maturation. This was about an issue that was critically important to the county," Dodd said of Hillary's 1993 health care effort. "It was a major effort that failed. There were a lot of reasons that it failed, not the least of which it was mismanaged terribly at the time."
And as for Hillary's talk about how she's fought on the issue and has the metaphorical scars from the battle, Dodd doesn't give her that, either: "Not everyone succeeds in everything they try to do. But if you're going to highlight experiences, they ought to reflect the ability to produce results rather than what you tried and failed at."
Comments (11)
james wrote on September 21, 2007 10:34 AM:I guess he didn't like the fact a few weeks ago people were lumping him and Biden together as hitmen for Hillary.
slcathena wrote on September 21, 2007 10:42 AM:Well put, Senator. I've yet to see what this experience is that Clinton insists upon at every juncture. She tried bold reform in the early 90's, it didn't work. I'm glad someone is starting to call her out on it.
dcshungu wrote on September 21, 2007 11:27 AM:I do not get this criticism at all, and it strikes me as 10 years too late. What would make sense is for Dodd to criticize HRC's current plan. Are we to believe that Dodd has never failed at anything in his whole life? Any fool can learn from his successes, but it takes character to turn one's failures into success. HRC learned from her mistakes the last time around and now has on the table a plan that she should be criticized on...not what happened 10 years ago, when many who will be voting in '08 were not even old enough to care!!!
BTW: has anyone seen Dodd's health care plan yet?
colonpowwow wrote on September 21, 2007 11:36 AM:slcathena wrote: I've yet to see what this experience is that Clinton insists upon at every juncture. She tried bold reform in the early 90's, it didn't work.
Uh, slcathena, you answered your own wonderment in the very next sentence. Being the front person in a "bold reform" is called "experience" by some of us non-Clinton haters. Also, being an activist first lady in Arkansas, an activist first lady in the White House for 8 years and in her second Senate term might qualify as "experience" of a sort.
Sheesh!
Jeremy wrote on September 21, 2007 11:39 AM:Contrast Hillary's track record with Obama's. He got ethics reform in Springfield for the first time in 20+ years and got CAFE increases through the US Senate for the first time in 20+ years. How about proven accomplishment over "learning from mistakes". After all, Hillary still can't even admit some of her biggest mistakes, like her failure to even read the NIE before she failed the American people in giving Bush a blank chekc for war no matter what the inspectors said. How are we to believe she has really learned from her repeated failures?
DonnaG wrote on September 21, 2007 12:44 PM:Isn't there something ludicrous about Hillary using her experience as a failure on health care to argue that she has experience on health care? That's like a divorcee declaring expertise on marriage.
And, isn't there something two-faced about Hillary taking health industry and health insurance industry lobbying money, and then asking that we, nevertheless, trust her to reform those industries? On another site, some months ago, one of Hillary's biggest supporters answered to this issue. That supporter said that, once in office, she [the supporter] is certain that Hillary will simply screw over those health industry lobbyists who've supported her campaign. I guess that supporter is not only blinkered about taking a risk on Hillary's rhetoric, but is also comfortable with Hillary behaving dishonestly.
Anonymous wrote on September 21, 2007 1:47 PM:Isn't there something ludicrous about Hillary using her experience as a failure on health care to argue that she has experience on health care? That's like a divorcee declaring expertise on marriage.
You got that exactly right. The divorcee would know a lot more marriage than someone who has never been married - but claims to know all about it!
You see, it is really easy to pontificate... Where is Dodd's health care plan?
colonpowwow wrote on September 21, 2007 3:33 PM:Okay, Jeremy and DonnaG, we get it. You can't stand Hillary to the point of making ridiculous and irrational accusations against her.
Jeremy first - Hillary has impeccable Democratic credentials, a proven track record of "electablity," has withstood the Republican slime machine for over 15 years now, and carries a progressive voting record rated as over 90% liberal in all areas. Unlike Obama, however, she has made mistakes and even blunders. It is widely reported that she is the only one to have ever done so.
DonnaG - You are the perfect example of what I call this board's core of Hillogynists - that is, kneejerk Hillary-haters. I really find it hard to even bother trying to form any kind of answer to your endless string of biased, non-fact-based (a supporter says she says she'll screw them over, etc.) opinions. Your posts speak for themselves and do not even help to further your not-too-hidden agenda.
texasdem wrote on September 21, 2007 4:34 PM:colonpowwow,
(Sigh.) Not all of us for whom Hillary is not our first choice "hate" her. She's just not our first choice, and we try to explain why.
Jeremy simply pointed out that his reasoning is based on Hillary's inability to admit that it was a mistake not reading the NIE and voting for military force in Iraq. DonnaG's reason for not having Hillary as her first choice is because she's concerned that Hillary is beholden to her health industry contributors.
Your constant attacks and labels of "Hillogynists" and "kneejerk Hillary-haters" do nothing to address other people's reasonable concerns. They also do not help the cause of your candidate. It causes people to instead recoil at your viciousness.
Anonymous wrote on September 22, 2007 12:45 PM:isn't "texasdem" an oxymoron?
colonpowwow wrote on September 22, 2007 3:03 PM:texasdem said:
Your constant attacks and labels of "Hillogynists" and "kneejerk Hillary-haters" do nothing to address other people's reasonable concerns. They also do not help the cause of your candidate. It causes people to instead recoil at your viciousness.
I stand corrected. Thank you, texasdem. None of the posters on this board (like DonnaG) exhibit such kneejerk Hillary hatred, they just stick to the facts, so I am in error calling them on this. Thanks for your correcting me on this. I was intially inclined to recoil at your condescention, but I think you're probably right that I may have overstepped with calling Jeremy a Hillogynist.
BTW, someone who is leading by increasing double-digits in every reliable poll is not going to collapse in the face of my viciousness. I sat here for many months watching the anti-Hillary nonsense either creep or spew out on every topic here, whether related or not. I intend to vigorously (sigh) okay, viciously respond. LOL
