Howard Dean Hopes Individual Mandate Gets Thrown Out: “It was a foolish thing to do anyway,"

Let's hope the whole monstrosity gets thrown out!

WASHINGTON — Howard Dean shares something with conservative politicians: He, too, is hoping that the Supreme Court throws out the individual mandate.

“I don’t give a damn about the individual mandate,” the former Vermont governor told progressive activists during a panel discussion at Tuesday’s Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, D.C. “It was a foolish thing to do anyway, and I hope it does get thrown out.” Dean’s remarks followed an audience member’s criticism of the Affordable Care Act for not being a single-payer system.

The Supreme Court will rule this month on the constitutionality of the individual mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance.

Dean, a physician, does support the legislation as a whole, however. “I don’t want to rest of the bill thrown out,” he said, adding, “We didn’t get what we wanted, but there are some things we can build on.”