Lieberman, Edwards, Kucinich in amicable forum
Originally published in the Stamford Advocate
Lieberman, Edwards, Kucinich in amicable forum
Associated Press
January 8, 2004
CONCORD, N.H. -- With the top three contenders absent, so were any attacks as Democratic presidential contenders Joe Lieberman, John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich amicably shared their vision for America at a forum Thursday night.
The three barely mentioned Howard Dean, Wesley Clark and John Kerry as they concentrated more on criticizing President Bush when questioned on the environment, education and other issues. They used every opportunity to repeat Democratic charges that the Bush administration has been a haven for the wealthy.
At the same time, they often complemented each other and joked.
Edwards drew perhaps the biggest applause of the evening with his answer on health care.
He proposed "for the first time in our country's history we mandate health care coverage as a birthright for every single child in this country... and help our most vulnerable adult population."
He blamed much of health care cost on "the power of the lobbies of the drug companies, the insurance companies, the HMOs in Washington. These people have a stranglehold on this country. We won't solve the health care problem in this country ... until we have a president who has the backbone to stand up to these people," he said.
Kucinich said the country spends $1.4 trillion on health care, enough to cover everyone for everything. Instead, he said, much of it goes for corporate profits, executive salaries, lobbying and advertising. He advocated a universal single payer system to cut down on those costs.
Lieberman repeated his plan to set up national health insurance pools to drastically increase the number of people covered by insurance and to cut costs.
"I can get enough votes to get this passed," he said.
He also said no one should not be able to go to college because of money problems. He said he would raise Pell grants from $4,000 to $7,700, and raise the college tax deduction to $10,000 a year for middle class families.
Edwards said one problem with the federal education law No Child Left Behind is its lack of flexibility if a school fails to meet federal standards. Instead of punishing the school, work with it to succeed, he said.
Kucinich said he would provide public school education for children as young as 3, and help parents with child care at the same time. He would fully fund a free college education for everyone who wants to attend college.
To pay for it, he said if the country somehow finds money for war and to cut taxes for the wealthy; it can find money for education.
On Iraq, Kucinich repeated the main theme of his campaign: the immediate withdrawal of the United States from Iraq, letting the United Nations take over the task of rebuilding the country.
Edwards said he, too, would do everything he could to pass on the job to the UN.
"It's critical that we take the U.S. face off this operation," he said.
Only Lieberman advocated staying the course.
"We can't cut and run," he said. "There would be chaos in Iraq, chaos in the region."
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