"Wither on the vine!Wither on the vine! I'm stark raving mad!Wither on the vine!"
Posted on 09/12/2003 7:43:09 PM PDT by Brian S
Fri September 12, 2003 05:52 PM ET By Kay Henderson
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Richard Gephardt launched his sharpest attack on rival Howard Dean on Friday, likening his views on Medicare to past efforts led by Republican Newt Gingrich to cut the health care program for seniors.
With Dean moving past Gephardt in polls in the early caucus state of Iowa, the Missouri congressman told a crowd of retired union workers that Dean's views on Medicare were "not what we stand for as Democrats" and tied him to the efforts of Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, to cut Medicare.
"Howard Dean's beliefs about Medicare extend beyond merely disliking it, he has actually advocated cutting it and turning it into a wholly managed care program," said Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader who led the fight in Congress against Gingrich throughout the mid-1990s.
"It was in this period when Gingrich said Republicans wouldn't immediately kill Medicare, instead they would let it wither on the vine," Gephardt said. "And it was also during this time that Howard Dean, as chairman of the National Governor's Association, was supporting Republican efforts to scale back Medicare."
Dean said it was a sad day when any Democrat was compared to Gingrich, a favorite Democratic target for criticism until he stepped down in late 1998.
"No Democrat in the presidential race bears any resemblance to Newt Gingrich on any major issue," Dean said, adding Gephardt had resorted to "the politics of the past by engaging in name-calling, guilt by association and scare tactics."
CRANK UP THE CRITICISM
Gephardt's attack on Dean came as the nine-strong Democratic presidential field cranked up their criticism of the former Vermont governor, who has moved to the top of the polls in the early-deciding states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry criticized Dean on Friday while proposing a tax credit to help defray college costs, saying his plan to repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts would be a burden for middle-class families.
Kerry also issued a statement blasting Dean's reference on Wednesday to members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as "soldiers," saying they were "terrorists" and the comment "insults the memory of every innocent man, woman and child killed by these suicidal murderers."
Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman attacked Dean this week for saying the United States should "not take sides" in the Middle East, saying it would break more than five decades of U.S. backing for Israel.
North Carolina Sen. John Edwards criticized Dean for saying in a debate on Tuesday that he was the only candidate who talked about race in front of white audiences. Edwards said he and all of the other candidates talked about race.
Gephardt's office released 15 pages of documentation of Dean's comments on Medicare over the years, particularly in 1995 when the Republican-led House under Gingrich attempted to cut $270 billion from it during a battle over balancing the budget.
As governor of Vermont and head of the governor's association, Dean told reporters at the time that balancing the budget would require changes to programs like Medicare and Social Security and said he supported requiring more Medicare recipients to pay a greater share of the costs.
Right Dickie, tell a lie often and loudly enough and it becomes the truth, doesn't it. Anybody who has heard that quote in its full contex knows Newt was talking about the bloated Health Care Finance Administration bureaucracy, NOT mediscare. There has never been a cut in mediscare proposed.
Of course Dickie, like the rest of the democrat party, has so much respect for the truth he uses it very sparingly.
It is! Plus he is not running for re-election to the House, this is his "Waterloo".
Pity the poor soul after..."7" figure "K Street" boob!
Well, hey, let's vote for this Dean guy. He sounds a lot like Newt!
Of course, the great thing about this is that the media may finally have to buckle down and correct this "wither on the vine" lie.
Dang, same with Edwards ... and they've forgotten the math of this thing, that only get to go mano a mano with Bush. And that pandering to the leftist crazies will only hurt them later??!? This is looking more like BUsh strategery - they are leading themselves off a cliff.
Bwwwwwaaaaahahahaha!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.