What Do They Think?
On Sunday, eight Democratic candidates participated in a televised discussion about Health Care Reform and Health Care issues. This article is based on a 85-minute debate, televised on ABC News' "This Week" and moderated by host George Stephanopoulos which I watched personally.The debate was held in at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. A complete video of the debate is available online at C-SPAN and a complete transcript of the debate is also available at ABC News Web site.
All quoted material is taken directly from the TV debate on Sunday Night (8/19) and/or from the transcripts of the debate.
Participants of the debate were: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York), Sen. Chris Dodd (Connecticut), Sen. Barack Obama (Illinois), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Sen. Joe Biden (Delaware), Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (New Mexico)
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) said, "I want to have universal health care," adding, "I've stood up against the special interests. ... I took them on, on health care"
Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) rebutted saying that voters should ask Sen. Clinton of her efforts on health care reform during the 1990s, "Why did you not succeed?"
Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) said that he is "interested in ... providing relief to people who do not have health care."
Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) believes that the "reason we don't have universal health care in America today is because of the insurance industry, the drug companies and their lobbyists."
Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) stated during the debate that "every other health care plan represented by everyone else here on stage keeps the private insurers in charge," and added that the U.S. must "break the hold which the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies have on health care."
He also said that he has co-sponsored a bill he co-sponsored to establish a not-for-profit health care system. The bill (HR 676) can be viewed here.
|
|