ObamaCare Rule #1: Do No Harm (To Lawyers)

The folks at RedState have discovered a gem of an admission from former DNC-chair, guttural screamer, and current dissent-demonizer Howard Dean. According to Dean, the Democrats did not include tort reform in the House and Senate ObamaCare bills because, get this, they didn't want to anger the trial lawyers. Here's Governor Dean with the rare moment of candor:



For those of you who are in a hurry and actually like to read, here's the money quote:

“This is the answer from a doctor and a politician. Here’s why tort reform is not in the bill. When you go to pass a really enormous bill like that, the more stuff you put in it, the more enemies you make, right? And the reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on. And that is the plain and simple truth.”

Nice. Now, as a lawyer, I can indeed confirm that we are a scary lot. And RedState gamely points out that the trial lawyers did make quite the recent investment in the Democrat Party.

But here's my question: exactly what traditional Democrat constituency does ObamaCare intentionally "take on"? Last I checked, unions, environmentalists, pro-choicers, the NAACP, La Raza, "consumer advocates," artists, homosexuals, MoveOn, CodePink, George Soros, Alec Baldwin and Barbara Streisand all support ObamaCare, and it still polls very highly among self-identified Democrats. (And don't even try to argue that the elderly revolt against ObamaCare was by design. If so, that's the stupidest... design... ever.)

Truth is, ObamaCare "took on" not a single Democrat support group. Indeed, Democrats even co-opted the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. So spare me, Governor Screamy, your candid "explanation" of why the trial lawyers were coddled.