BOSTON - Sen. John Kerry on Monday proposed requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2012, "with the federal government guaranteeing that they have the means to afford it."
The Massachusetts Democrat, whose name is figuring prominently in 2008 White House speculation, repeated his 2004 presidential campaign call for expanding the federal Medicaid program to cover children. He also proposed creating a program to cover catastrophic cases so an employer providing insurance doesn't have to pass the cost to his other workers, and; offering Americans the ability to buy into the same insurance program used by federal workers such as members of Congress.
Kerry proposes to pay for the program by repealing tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration that benefit those earning over $200,000 annually. He did not immediately elaborate on how he would enact his insurance mandate, but one aid said he would do so with a requirement written into the legislation spelling out that the government covers anyone who is uninsured.
About what you'd expect from a true-blue liberal. Tax the most successful Americans while providing handouts to the poorest Americans instead of making them earn it for themselves, and if you don't like it you hate poor people. None of it is very surprising. New day, old crap.
Predictably, the RNC was quick to respond to Kerry's nonsense...but the response isn't the sort of think I expect or want from the Republicans.
The Republican National Committee, which typically responds to political criticism of the president, said Kerry's critique ignored the prescription drug program enacted by the Bush administration.
"It's unfortunate that John Kerry's bitterness over losing the election clouds his ability to recognize the president's prescription drug plan is providing millions of seniors with more affordable medicine," said RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.
Whatever his criticism, Kerry faces the reality that the governor of his home state — Republican Mitt Romney, himself a potential 2008 presidential candidate — has not only talked about but enacted a sweeping health care overhaul designed to bring universal coverage to Massachusetts. Last week, Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services, called the program "a model" for the nation.
Romney negotiated the plan with a Democratic Legislature, and in cooperation with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., Kerry's senior colleague.
Sigh...
Not only is the RNC chucking core conservative principles under the bus and meeting Kerry's statements with claims of "We spend more on health entitlements!", an actual member of the Bush Administration, Secretary Leavitt, is actively touting Mitt Romney's mandated health care debacle in Massachusetts. A debacle given the bless of Ted Kennedy, no less.
Where in the world have all the conservatives gone? What happened to personal responsibility? What happened to the idea that government entitlements were a bad thing as they discouraged people from being productive and earning things for themselves?
This nonsense, combined with the House Republicans passing a massive hike in the minimum wage, has got this conservative feeling depressed.