Presidential Election

the election heating up or fizzling out depending on who you talk to. the candidates are really spinning the same sound bites. however, candidates that are able to repackage the sound bites are winning i.e. Hilary.

i will try to be as impartial as possible when discussin the issues over the next couple of months. i think my generation is in search of a candidate but have no idea what the issues are or what the candidates plan to do to address these issues. i fear like in previous years this will come down to a popularity contest.

so with that. i will focus on the top 3 candidates in the democratic and republican party. i hope to break down each issue and the candidates plan as much as possible. this will be politics for dummies. my comments with be in red.

in the number 3 slot for the democrats we have John Edwards.

universal health care- i chose this issue first because its the number one domestic policy issue of voters.so i'm sure you hear all the democratic candidates talking about universal health care and it always brings a warm fuzzy feeling but we never hear the plan and most importantly who's going to pay for this.


under the Edwards plan which would cost about $90 billion to $120 billion annually:

• families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
• families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
• businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.so

how does Edwards propose we pay for all this?the Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:

• requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance. (this basically shifts the burden to businesses...could be an issue for small businesses/companies)
• making insurance affordable by creating new tax credits, expanding Medicaid and SCHIP, reforming insurance laws, and taking innovative steps to contain health care costs. (Medicaid is already a budget challenge for many States, expanding Medicaid can possibly create more issues as States try to balance budgets. this could lead to state & local taxes being raised to generate revenues to support the increase in Medicaid recipients)
• Creating regional "Health Care Markets" to let every American share the bargaining power to purchase an affordable, high-quality health plan, increase choices among insurance plans, and cut costs for businesses offering insurance.Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.

ok so the underline message to this plan is everyone will have to share in the cost in providing universal health care. Edwards is proposing raising taxes, eliminating President Bush's tax cuts for households earning more than $200,000 and by increasing Internal Revenue Service efforts to collect unpaid capital gains taxes to pay for universal health cate.