Democratic Presidential Candidates Discuss Health Care, Other Issues at Debate in Baltimore
The Democratic candidates for president last night in Baltimore conducted a 90-minute debate that "rambled over a wide spectrum of ... issues," including health care, the Los Angeles Times reports (Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, 9/10). The candidates "attacked [President] Bush on everything from Iraq to health care with rehearsed one-liners," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Dart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/10). Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) said that Bush could help address problems with the health care system by having "the courage and backbone to stand up to big drug companies, stand up to big HMOs, stand up to big insurance companies" (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 9/10). Edwards also said that Bush could not find more money for education and health care while he was also asking for billions of dollars for the war on terrorism (Fournier, AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 9/10). He added that there should be a "big sign on the White House saying, 'This president is hazardous to your health'" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/10). In addition, several other candidates emphasized the need for affordable health care for all U.S. residents, the AP/Sun reports. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) said he supported a single-payer health care system, saying, "We have a condition where nothing less than getting rid of this system of health care for profit will do" (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 9/10).
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