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Romney: 47 Million Uninsured Americans Just Want Free Health Care |
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With the New Hampshire primary up tomorrow, Republican and Democratic presidential candidates gathered for another round of debates over the weekend.
While the candidates sparred with rivals in their own parties, the debates also illuminated the significant differences between the two parties, especially on the crucial issue of health care.
Former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) starkly illustrated the difference between Republican and Democratic candidates. Blaming the nation’s uninsured for the state of health care in the country, he asserted:
The reason health care isn’t working like a market right now is you have 47 million people that are saying, “I’m not going to play. I’m just going to get free care paid for by everybody else.” That doesn’t work.
Most of the Republican candidates showed a similar lack of concern over the problems in America’s health care system. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (N.Y.) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.) were both quick to say the United States has “the best health care system in the world.”
Yet, as Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman notes:
The United States spends far more on health care per person than any other nation. Yet we have lower life expectancy than most other rich countries. Furthermore, every other advanced country provides all its citizens with health insurance; only in America is a large fraction of the population uninsured or underinsured.
Thompson also suggested that “we’re probably never going to achieve total coverage.” Thompson made the argument that health care was just a consumer good like any other and that an unregulated market would serve consumers best.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) claimed that controlling the cost of health care requires placing the burden on individuals.
We have to make the recipient of the health care more responsible. We have to have outcome-based results for health care. We have to emphasize wellness and fitness.
Like Thompson, Romney claimed that “the market will work” and praised pharmaceutical companies for their role in the U.S. health care system.
Giuliani said the best option was individual “health savings accounts” (HSAs)—the same seriously flawed plan proposed by President Bush, one that would increase costs and risks for working families. Romney also advocated HSAs.
Romney, Giuliani, Thompson and McCain all claimed their health care plans were the only alternative to a “government takeover” or “socialized medicine.”
In comparison, former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), whose health care proposal is not comprehensive or detailed, at least acknowledged that there’s a crisis in the system. But as blogger Matthew Yglesias noted, the fact that Huckabee stands out is a testament to the weakness of the Republican field.
[Huckabee’s] policy solutions are empty or crackpotty, but since his rivals don’t deign to engage with him, that doesn’t come across during the debates. Meanwhile, his empty or crackpotty solutions are aimed at real problems real people have. The others often seem to be living on another planet.
During the Democratic debate, candidates took part in a serious discussion of the merits of their health care plans and the work needed to achieve those plans. The question was not whether a health care crisis existed, but whose proposal would do the most to provide coverage, and who would stand up to the entrenched interests, like insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), who was not invited to the debate, is proposing a single-payer health care system.
We’ve written before about the gap between Republicans and Democrats on health care. We’ve also created a comprehensive chart (PDF) to explain each candidate’s proposals and how they stack up against the principles of the AFL-CIO health care campaign.
Numerous blogs covered the debates.
TAPPED, the blog of The American Prospect, live-blogged the debates and wrapped up the Republican and Democratic debates from Saturday.
DhinMI of Daily Kos also offered thoughts on the debates and the contrasts between the parties.
The Carpetbagger Report covered the Republican and Democratic debates on Saturday night.
Chris Hayes of The Nation commented on the media coverage of the debates and the race in general.
Talking Points Memo has a wrap-up and video highlight reel of last night’s debate.
The New York Times has complete transcripts of the Republican debate and the Democratic debate on Saturday. For more information about the presidential race, visit Working Families Vote 2008.
8 Comments
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Romney is full of bull, how can a conservative narrow minded person like that make such a ridiculous accusation?
If Republicans would quit sending jobs overseas, the jobs would remain here and hopefully with some type of health care.
HR 676 is the BEST solution to the health care crisis, yet the Mickey Mouse Club would not let Dennis Kucinich debate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0MFiceafq4
Romney is typical of the type of “politician” in Washington; they are all advocates of “survival of the fit” mentality in which everyone is expected to make it on their own regardless of sickness or disability. In other words, they advocate elimination of those who can’t make it without compassionate assistance. Watch out! You are on their list for elimination if you can’t be the human machine they want for production and profit-making. If you can’t perform to their standards, they don’t care if you die. As a matter of fact, they wish you would. This is really why they won’t consider universal health-care which other civilized nations in the world community have for their citizens. They WANT the “slackers” to die.
I know this sounds hard-core, but this is the reality of type of people who have hi-jacked Washington.
What these “geniuses” don’t realize is that, if you don’t take care of your work-force now, you create a downward spiral in which you eventually produce a mass, a major portion of the population , of people who are too sick to work for anyone.
What they also fail to foresee, is that eventually, with fewer and fewer people paying to support the existence of very expensive doctors and health-care workers, even the rich will not be able to pay the extreme expense of health-care. The remaining insured minority of rich and well-to-do will expect that their monetary input will continue to produce the so-called “world’s best” (ha-ha) health-care system. This is not realistic nor a workable solution.
These politicians are out-of-touch with reality because their money has insulated them from the reality that most people have to cope with.
Romney’s attitude is a disgrace, and his health plan is a disaster. Most of those who have agreed to the forced insurance plan are those who receive public subsidies — in other words, the public subsidizing insurance giants who hardly need the help.
Here’s one comment from a Massachusetts woman sent to our website that typifies what Romney’s law has done: “The State of Massacusetts has sold us out to the insurance companies and I refuse to sign up for a $400 a month plan with a $4000 deductable to me this is outrageous.”
But the problem is not just Romney. Several Democratic Presidential candidates have also jumped on the forced insurance bandwagon, and a forced insurance plan has passed the California Assembly with the overwhelming support of Democratic legislators.
What do all these plans have in common? They continue to allow insurance pirates to routinely deny care and charge whatever they want. The result is forcing people to buy junk insurance plans that expose them to financial insecurity or encouraging them to self ration care just to avoid the co-pays and deductibles.
Insurance is not healthcare. We should all oppose these disgraceful forced insurance plans, support an expanded Medicare for all approach as in HR 676, or at least the same care Vice President Dick Cheney and members of Congress receive. Please sign our petition at www.cheneycare.org.
Charles Idelson
California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
I agree with you on Romney, and be assured, the rest of the Republican candidates agree. I totally respect Congressman Kucinich, but I don’t see how he can object to not being included in a debate, when the previous week, he told his people in Iowa to vote for Obama.
What American’s deserve is real health care, not a health insurance program. We need a not for profit, single payer, wellness based health care system for all, one that far exceeds current health care services and is far more cost effective. All should be required to subscribe and pay into the system according to their means.
Kucinich asked people who were not going to vote for him, to vote for Obama. Personally, I think that was a mistake. Dennis Kucinich said he was worried about Edwards taking money from Wall Street. We should be worried about ANY Democratic candidate who wants to keep NAFTA and keep the U,S. in the WTO. I fully support Kucinich. If the Unions would endorse him, as they should, he would have been at both debates that he was excluded from. As far as working America is concerned, Dennis Kucinich is the ONLY choice.
Organized labor has not learned the lesson of depending on corporate controlled candidates. Kucinich has been ignored and now he is not even being allowed on the Texas Primary ballot! (Makes you wonder what the democrats and the media are afraid of?)
H.R. 676 is the way to go! Over 345 labor organizations across the U.S. have endorsed the bill! The leadership in D.C. need to pay attention! Support the members, forget the politicians!
Romney a jerk? Ok. Moved, seconded and carried.
Rather than being surprised that a jerk acts like a jerk, get over it. Nothing labor can do will change Romney’s politics. Why waste the energy?
Instead, let’s clean up our own side of the street. Let’s show the way. Let’s ignore elected (or appointed) labor faking pie cards. Let’s recapture the heritage of a militant labor movement rooted in a commitment to social and economic justice…and peace.
Since conservative leadership gained control of the house of labor in 1955, labor has been in a retreat mode. Back then, 35% of America’s workforce was unionized. Today it’s 10% - 11%. The Meany school of collaboration and red-baiting has devastated labor!
In Europe, when the government tries to screw workers, millions of people lay down their tools and march in the streets. That’s why they have health care for all, mandated vacations and holidays, shorter workweeks, public education dedicated to serving the public, and therefore the nations there, and peace.
Here in the U.S., labor chieftains whine to Congress and blame politicians for all that is wrong.
The fact of the matter is that business-labor statesmen don’t have it in their DNAs to call on their memberships to march until justice is won. Such militant action is foreign to their conservative ideology.
That’s why rank and file union members have to assume control. When that happens there won’t be any whining to Congress. We’ll tell Congress! Either they’ll do what’s right or else they’ll face mass work stoppages. And the phonies in Congress won’t know what to do except knuckle under to the 90% of the people in this country who make up blue collar America. They’ll knuckle under so they can get reelected. (One of the great fears of too many members of Congress is the prospect of actually having to go out and get an honest job.)
Labor needs to be advocates for the working class! If some pie cards aren’t equipped and/or are too ideologically challenged to lead they need to be removed from office.
P.S. HR 676 is the solution to our nation’s health care crisis. That big-shot labor fakers refuse to support it should tell us legions…and bears out much of what is written above.