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IowaPolitics.com: Dems trade jabs over handling health care reform
9/21/2007

By Chris Dorsey
IowaPolitics.com

At a Democratic debate focused on health care and financial security, the five Democrats in attendance agreed on the need to collaborate to reform the health care system, but differed over who was best prepared to lead the cause. The candidates also discussed the importance of keeping Social Security viable and dealing with the rising problem of home foreclosure.

As they have fanned out across Iowa since January, the five candidates who appeared at Davenport's Adler Theatre -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd, former Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson -- have said they would back a universal health care plan if elected.

Clinton, who unveiled her health plan in Des Moines in Monday, touted her "lonely" work on health care in the early '90s and said she was glad other Democrats were now fighting for the same thing.

"Fifteen years ago, I was advocating for universal health care. It was kinda lonely back then," Clinton, D-N.Y., said. "I never gave up when we weren't successful. I think it is tremendous that we have unanimity here. What was a lonely struggle all those years ago is now the accepted set of convictions for the Democratic party. Compare that to the Republicans, they do not have a clue or willingness to talk about or move toward what we are committed to. Will it be hard? I know that better than anybody it is going to be hard."

Edwards said reform is not likely until the system in Washington, D.C. is corrected. Continuing a theme he has used to criticize Clinton's campaign donations, the former senator said lobbyists, insurance companies and prescription drug companies have had too much of a say in how the current system operates.

"We have to give the power in this government back to the American people," Edwards said. "And take it away from this crowd in Washington -- the insiders -- who are running our country today."

Biden, D-Del., showed a willingness to take on other candidates at the debate, wondering if Clinton could marshal the Republican support necessary to pass a plan and questioning whether New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson could apply his experience in New Mexico to a nationwide issue. Richardson focused on the strength of his experience as governor creating programs to offer health care to children, saying New Mexico should be able to insure all of its residents by 2009.

"That is like saying, 'I played halfback in high school, I can play in the pros.' That is a different deal," Biden said. "He is a great governor. He would make a great secretary of state," Biden joked.

Richardson offered a solution to help pay for affordable health care by eliminating the waste and money spent on administrative costs. Nearly 31 percent is going to the costs of bureaucracy costs, HMO overhead and insurance company rip-offs, the governor said.

"We need universal health care," Richardson said. "Everyone deserves the best quality health care."

Dodd, D-Conn., said the next president should be able to move forward in a bipartisan fashion.

"It is not enough to talk about efforts we have made and failed. We need to talk about people who know how to do this," Dodd said. "We need leadership in the country that can truly bring people together to get the job done."

Biden agreed with Dodd, saying the passage of a universal health care bill will require someone who can get support from Republicans.

The candidates also addressed the rising number of home foreclosures across the country. Iowa currently ranks ninth in the nation in the number of people losing their homes due to foreclosure. Nearly 276,000 people went through foreclosure in the last quarter, which is the highest number since record-keeping began 55 years ago, said Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee.

That number could soar to three million people in the United States in the next two years, Dodd said.

"I am not going to tolerate anyone losing their home because a banker or broker took advantage of them,” Dodd said. "This is going to spill out across the economy."

Edwards said, "We need a national home rescue fund to help people who have spent their entire lives investing in their home. They shouldn't lose that asset because they are being taken advantage of."

This issue is a threat, said Richardson, who backed home loan protection laws in New Mexico. "These are human beings [with] ... home ownership at stake. The mortgage companies have become loan sharks."

It is in the best interest of the economy and the country to keep people in their homes, Biden said. He also told the crowd there is the threat of a recession looming on the horizon.

"We are heading toward a recession if we don't begin to generate new jobs, if we don't begin to invest in infrastructure and we begin to change the way we are approaching the economy."

Biden criticized President George Bush, likening him to magician Harry Houdini for the way the budget surplus has disappeared under his administration.

"Everything from Medicare straight through to our ability to pay for education is impacted upon by this God-awful deficit these guys created," Biden said. "This president should be called Houdini. He went from a $5.8 trillion projected surplus to a $3.7 trillion project deficit. Only Houdini could do that -- or Bush."

The 90-minute debate, sponsored by AARP and Iowa Public Television, took place at the Adler Theatre in Davenport. A sixth top candidate -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama -- declined an invitation to appear at the event. Democrats Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich did not have enough of an Iowa campaign presence to meet the qualifications for the debate.


PBS ombudsman: Why Kucinich and Gravel were excluded
Kucinich backs single-payer plan


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