‘You made that up,’ Dean tells Rove in debate

By David Edwards
Thursday, October 29th, 2009 -- 10:26 am
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You made that up, Dean tells Rove in debateAs one might have guessed, there were plenty of fireworks Tuesday night during a debate between former Bush adviser Karl Rove and former DNC chair Howard Dean held at Penn State.

Pennsylvania's Centre Daily reports,

There was little agreement, but a good bit of name calling, during the event which ranged in tone from heated to humorous.

“That’s a made up statistic, Karl Rove. ...For the first time tonight, I’m calling you on it,” said Dean, a medical physician and the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “You made that up."

Rove had said that Medicare rejects claims twice as often as the overall health insurance industry, and he promised to put the proof in his Wall Street Journal column next week. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t question my integrity. ..Mr. Dean, you just called me a liar and I don’t appreciate it,” replied Rove, former deputy chief of staff and senior adviser to George W. Bush and a Fox News contributor. Later, Rove called Dean “adolescent” after the former Democratic National Committee chairman interrupted one of his answers.

Story continues below...

An Associated Press article adds,

"Liar! Liar!," some in a crowd of mainly students yelled at Rove toward the end of the night, when the former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush brought up the No Child Left Behind education legislation as an example of an issue that could attract bipartisanship.

"These people must be from Michigan — or they must be from Ohio State, I don't know," Rove quipped, referring to Penn State's biggest football rivals.

A recent poll shows more Americans identify themselves as conservative than moderate or liberal.

Gallup reports:

Conservatives continue to outnumber moderates and liberals in the American populace in 2009, confirming a finding that Gallup first noted in June. Forty percent of Americans describe their political views as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 20% as liberal. This marks a shift from 2005 through 2008, when moderates were tied with conservatives as the most prevalent group.

WTAJ reports

Governor Dean says polls like this don't mean anything. But Karl Rove says its shows the people feel deceived by the President. Because he says President Obama campaigned as a centrist and is more liberal in his presidency.

Some people in the audience weren't surprised to hear the poll results, but some people are skeptical of the numbers.

In the following video, Karl Rove and Howard Dean can be seen debating the poll Tuesday night at Penn State.

This video is from Fox News' America's Newsroom, broadcast Oct. 29, 2009.



Download video via RawReplay.com

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Story comments are below...

  • sergesret
    I have no doubt 40% say they are conservative, but I doubt they all have an understanding of what that means or what moderate and liberal really mean. Very often you see people like this interviewed and in the end, it's clear that, for a significant number of issues they could be labeled liberal. For example, support of Medicare or Social Security, which are liberal programs. Also, labeling most Democrats and Obama as liberal also shows a lack of appreciation for what the term really denotes. The only way I could take a poll like this seriously is if the question included a definition of the terms. But of course, that would still assume a great deal about the reading comprehension of the respondent,
  • damixaustex
    Back in the 80's people liked to call themselves
    "social Liberals" who are "fiscally conservative."

    The two seemed to separate and become seen as mutually exclusive once the "religious conservatives" rose in power. The term conservative took on some religious fundamentalist aspect, in a party that was starting to embrace fiscal liberalism through deregulation experiments.
    Oddly, the religious conservatives shifted toward radical religious liberalism, trying to change laws constantly.

    It's interesting that preserving Medicare is seen as any sort of conservatism.
    Does that mean today's liberal push is tomorrows conservatism?

    The center line can be such a wet noodle sometimes.
  • emkay
    How soon we forget! The salient point is-"WHY THE FUCK AREN'T ROVE,RUMSFELD,AND CHENEY IN PRISON!!!!!?????"
  • davidrvelasquez
    I kept having the same thought.
  • roland99
    Medicare does have a higher rejection rate vs. the average of private insurers (6.85% vs. 3.89%...not quite twice as much but noticeably more.)

    HOWEVER, nearly HALF of the Medicare denied payments are due to one of the following three reasons:

    1) Claim/service lacks information which is needed for adjudication. At least one Remark Code must be provided (may be comprised of either the Remittance Advice Remark Code or NCPDP Reject Reason Code).

    2) Claim not covered by this payer/contractor. You must send the claim to the correct payer/contractor.

    3) Claim denied as patient cannot be identified as our insured.

    The data is here:
    http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/368/...


    So, due to errors in billing (or possibly fraud in the case of #3), Medicare's actual denial of payment rate is LESS than the average of the private insurers!
  • DeadFed
    In conclusion, Rove once again may technically have a point but is still technically a liar.

    This is the problem..... and these dingbats take advantage of it all of the time......These stats have a set of metrics by which the final % is derived. If you are not privvy to those metrics, how can the information really mean anything??? Because on the one hand, Medicare may in fact have more denials, how much is derived from fraud/administration vs. outright denials of care?
  • loki5
    no kkarl, he campaigned as a liberal, and governs as a centrist. That is why the right fears him because they think he is a liberal, and the left is angry because they know he is not.
  • Wowser
    DEAN 2012!
  • dennycrane
    Oh please. This is like wrestling with pigs, the more you do it, the dirtier you get and the more the pig likes it. Just make a citizen's arrest and haul that fuck off to the Hague.
  • bigtimepatriot
    "A recent poll shows more Americans identify themselves as conservative than moderate or liberal"

    Kind of misleading title for this poll isn't it? Shouldn't it be "A recent poll of Americans show a MAJORITY American's do NOT identify themselves as Conservativess" or "56% of Americans identify themselves as Moderate or Liberal"
  • leathersmith
    conservative & liberal have lost significance. I prefer Fundamentalist and Progressive
  • Gallup and Rasmussen essentially run Republican push polls. Rasmussen is by far the worst.
  • davidrvelasquez
    "the democratic healthcare proposal having a staggering price tag"!.... oh yeah, ...well, would it be a bigger price tag than what most people are currenly already paying at $100 or $400 a month for their healthcare insurance?

    Yeah, right.... how's that 'conservatism' working for you?
  • johntwodogs
    I might go for a Kucinich/Dean ticket in 2012.
  • johntwodogs
    Actually, I'd go for a Kucinich/(anyone) ticket in 20__(anytime).
  • damixaustex
    Is that Karl Rove promo piece the only video available? I'm looking for more...
  • imwc
    they`re both liars...they are in on it together...making millions, pretending that we still have a two party system...
  • rhetoricus
    Um, how EXACTly is Howard Dean a liar?
  • PrissyPatriot
    I hope there is a special place reserved for people like you in the afterlife, Mr. Rover. I don't like OSU football but you just made me a fan,
  • MACAD
    Of course there are more conservatives. That's how Huckabee won the nomination and became President.
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