And I already said I'd been reading his website, and
his vague policies and constant restating of problems,
not solutions, are vexing.
I've also been comparing his issue papers to Clark and Kucinich.
Here are some examples (they're exerpts; I trimmed out the
parts where he's just restating problems). Three big issues
to me: Higher Education, Health Care, Global Warming.
I tried to capture the meat with excerpts; I excluded the “how we’ll pay for this” info. Frankly, if we stopped flushing money down the crapper this stuff probably would be paid for. If I missed significant info from a website (the only source I’m using), please let me know.
I like Clark's education policy (grants, not the same old loans),
Kucinich's health care policy (universal, not the same old system with band aids),
Kucinich on global warming (kyoto accord).
I like that Clark says he'll be held accountable, whereas Dean
consistently ends speaches by saying he can't cure our problems,
only we can. Then, why do we need him?
Issues/Candidate Policies/Are they precise/Are they clear/Are they good?
Higher Education:
-----------------------
Kucinich/
http://www.kucinich.us/issues/10key.php<7> Guaranteed Quality Education, Pre-K through College
Since education is the only proven way to reduce poverty, it is unacceptable that a child’s education be dependent on where they are born or the financial status of their family. The federal government spends only 2.9% of its budget on education. That will change under a Kucinich administration, because quality education is a core American right and value.
Education must emphasize creative and critical thinking, not just test-taking. Schools need money to decrease class size, increase teachers’ salaries, renovate decaying facilities, and include hands-on job training for those not going to college. Pre-K and after-school programs will get increased funding, and the soaring costs of college will be reversed.
Dean/
http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/cg/index.html?type=page&pagename=policy_statement_education_higheredHigher education is the pathway to a better life for millions of young people
…
This country cannot afford for college to be an ‘elites only’ program….
The College Commitment
Governor Dean’s higher education plan will guarantee every young person access to an affordable four-year college education. The “College Commitment” guarantees that every student who commits in eighth grade to working hard in high school and to pursuing a higher education will have the resources to earn a degree.
Through the College Commitment, eighth graders will be asked to commit to prepare for college and to graduate from high school. The commitment to them in return is that:
They will have access to $10,000 per year for postsecondary education — traditional college or high-skills career training.
They will never have to pay more than 10% of their income after college on student loan payments.
If they go into public service, they will never pay more than 7% of their income — if they enter fields such as nursing, teaching, law enforcement, or firefighting in high need areas.
If they work and make loan payments for 10 years, their loans will be paid in full.
Clark/
http://clark04.com/downloads/pdf/Clark04_HigherEducation.pdfUniversal College Grant Plan
Going to college is an essential part of the American dream. Higher education is one of the best investments a
person can make: economic studies show that an additional year of schooling beyond high school has a return
of between 5 and 15 percent annually – more than the typical inflation-adjusted return on stocks and bonds.
…
Wes Clark’s three-part plan:
1. Make the first two years of college free for most students – providing a Universal College Grant of
$6,000 per year.
The Universal College Grant would be phased in to provide
$6,000 per year for the first two years of full-time college for any dependent student whose familyʼs
income is up to $100,000. Like the existing Pell Grant, the Universal College Grant could be applied to
tuition, fees, room, board, and school supplies, including computers, at any qualifying public or private
institution.
Making the first two years of college free for most students. The average tuition and fees for a fouryear
public university, $4,694 in 2003-04, would be covered by the Universal College Grant, meaning
that the first two years of college would be free for most students.
2. Restrain spiraling tuition increases
3. Enhance savings for college
Paying more than half of the cost of Universal College Grants by consolidating the Pell Grant,
the Hope Scholarship, and increasing competition for student loans. The cost of the new Universal
College Grant would be partially paid for by reserving Pell Grants only for those in their last two years
of college (currently $12 billion for all years of college) and eliminating the Hope Scholarship ($3.5
billion). In the process, the Universal College Grant plan would reform the tax code to make it simpler.
In addition, Wes Clark would eliminate the billions of dollars a year in subsidies that the government
currently pays to banks that offer student loans and instead shift to direct, competitive lending.
…
America's working families need more help saving for college. Wes Clark's plan would increase the incentives
for working families to save for college and other higher education:
Extend the Saver's Credit to Education IRAs – and make it refundable. Currently, couples making up to
$30,000 annually get up to a 100 percent match on their contributions to IRAs. Wes Clark would extend this
Saver's Credit to Education IRAs – and make it refundable. This would provide additional returns for working
families that save for college and beyond, and thus an additional reason to save. This is part of Wes Clark's
overall plan to reform the tax code and increases the incentives for saving.
Wes Clark will be held accountable for achieving the goal of an additional 1 million students enrolled in higher
education by 2008.
Health Care:
-----------------------
Kucinich/
http://www.kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.phpUniversal Health Care with a Single Payer Plan
The Kucinich plan is enhanced 'Medicare for All' -- a universal, single-payer system of national health insurance, carefully phased in over 10 years. It addresses everyone's needs, including the 40 million Americans without coverage and those paying exorbitant rates for health insurance. This approach to healthcare emphasizes patient choice, and puts doctors and patients in control of the system, not insurance companies. Coverage will be more complete than private insurance plans, encourage prevention and include prescription drugs.
…
Over time, the Kucinich plan will remove private insurance companies from the system -- along with their waste, paperwork, profits, excessive executive salaries, advertising, sales commissions, etc -- and redirect resources to actual treatment. Insurance companies do not heal or treat anyone, physicians and health practitioners do ...and thousands of physicians support a single-payer system because it reduces bureaucracy and shelters the doctor-patient relationship from HMO and insurance company encroachment.
…
This type of system -- privately-delivered health care, publicly financed -- has worked well in other countries, none of whom spend as much per capita on healthcare as the United States. "We're already paying for national healthcare; we're just not getting it," says Kucinich. The cost-effectiveness of a single-payer system has been affirmed in many studies, including those conducted by the Congressional Budget Office and the General Accounting Office. The GAO has written:
"If the US were to shift to a system of universal coverage and a single payer, as in Canada, the savings in administrative costs (10% to private insurers) would be more than enough to offset the expense of universal coverage."
…
While enhanced Medicare for All makes economic sense, it has not made political sense to some, due to the power of the private insurance lobby. The streamlined Kucinich plan is very different than the 1993 Clinton HMO-based plan, a complex proposal that left big insurance firms in a central role. After Clinton's 'Managed Competition' plan failed without coming up for a vote, talk-radio host Jim Hightower asked President Clinton why he hadn't put forward a "simple, straightforward" single-payer plan "instead of all this bureaucracy." Clinton replied, "I thought it would be easier to pass" a bill that left the insurance industry in place. "I guess I was wrong about that."
Dean/
http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/cg/index.html?type=page&pagename=policy_statement_healthMy plan will cost $88.3 billion -- less than half of the president's tax cut -- with money left over to pay down the deficits run up by this administration.
My plan consists of four major components.
First, and most important, in order to extend health coverage to every uninsured child and young adult up to age 25, we'll redefine and expand two essential federal and state programs -- Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Right now, they only offer coverage to children from lower-income families. Under my plan, we cover all kids and young adults up to age 25 -- middle income as well as lower income. This aspect of my plan will give 11.5 million more kids and young adults access to the healthcare they need.
Second, we'll give a leg up to working families struggling to afford health insurance. Adults earning up to 185% of the poverty level -- $16,613 -- will be eligible for coverage through the already existing Children Health Insurance Program. By doing this, an additional 11.8 million people will have access to the care they need.
Many working families have incomes that put them beyond the help offered by government programs. But this doesn't mean they have viable options for healthcare. We'll establish an affordable health insurance plan people can buy into, providing coverage nearly identical to what members of Congress and federal employees receive.
To cushion the costs, we'll also offer a significant tax credit to those with high premium costs. By offering this help, another 5.5 million adults will have access to care.
Third, we need to recognize that one key to a healthy America is making healthcare affordable to small businesses.We shouldn't turn our back on the employer-based system we have now, but neither should we simply throw money at it. We need to modernize the system so employers will have an option beyond passing rising costs on to workers or bailing out of the system entirely. Fortunately, we have a model of efficient, affordable and user-friendly healthcare coverage: the federal employee health system.
With the plan I've put forth to the American people, we'll organize a system nearly identical to the one federal workers and members of Congress enjoy. And we'll enable all employers with less than 50 workers to join it at rates lower than are currently available to these companies -- provided they insure their work force. I'll also offer employers a deal: The federal government will pick up 70% of COBRA premiums for employees transitioning out of their jobs, but we'll expect employers to pay the cost of extending coverage for an additional two months. These two months are often the difference between workers finding the health coverage they need, or joining the ranks of the uninsured.
Finally, to ensure that the maximum number of American men, women and children have access to healthcare, we must address corporate responsibility. There are many corporations that could provide healthcare to their employees but choose not to. The final element of this plan is a clear, strong message to corporate America that providing health coverage is fundamental to being a good corporate citizen. I look at business tax deductions as part of a compact between American taxpayers and corporate America. We give businesses certain benefits, and expect them to live up to certain responsibilities.
I believe this plan is sensible and that it can pass Congress -- but most importantly, I believe that it is the right thing to do. When my wife, Judith Steinberg, and I graduated from medical school, we took an oath in which we pledged to practice our profession with conscience and dignity and to always make the health of our patients our first consideration. With this plan, and in my campaign for the presidency, I will make the health of all Americans my first priority. Our country has waited too long, and we must do better.
Clark/
http://clark04.com/issues/healthcare.pdfHIGHLIGHTS OF WES CLARK’S PLAN FOR HEALTH CARE
-Wes Clark’s plan is the only plan that improves care while expanding coverage and making
it more affordable for American families.
-Provides health insurance for 31.8 million Americans who are currently uninsured, including
all 13.1 million children and college-age Americans who currently lack health insurance.
-Provides tax credits to reduce premiums for millions of Americans who currently have
health insurance but are struggling to pay their premiums. In addition, Wes Clark’s groundbreaking
emphasis on improving quality and constraining cost growth would provide better
medical outcomes at a lower cost for all Americans.
Global Warming:
--------------------
Kucinich/
http://www.kucinich.us/issues/environment.php<10> Environmental Renewal and Clean Energy
Clean air and water, as well as an intact ozone layer, are not luxuries, but necessities for our children's future.
A Kucinich administration will toughen environmental enforcement, support the Kyoto Treaty on global climate change, reduce oil dependence, and spur investment in alternative energy sources, including hydrogen, solar, wind, and ocean. Clean energy technologies will produce new jobs. Tax and other incentives will favor sustainable businesses that conserve energy, retrofit pollution prevention technologies, and redesign toxins out of their manufacturing processes. The right to know (for example, when food is genetically engineered) will supercede corporate secrecy. Globally, the U.S. will become a leader in sustainable energy production and a partner with developing nations in providing inexpensive, local, renewable energy technologies.
Dean/
http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/cg/index.html?type=page&pagename=policy_policy_environment_globalwarmingGlobal warming is a monumental hazard to our health, our environment, and our economy. Global warming is caused by a thickening layer of carbon pollution around the earth that traps heat from the sun. Like other pollution problems that we have licked in the past, global warming is a problem that we can solve.
America has a special responsibility and capacity to take the lead in addressing global warming. We are the world’s biggest contributor to the problem — with just five percent of the world’s population, we emit one-fourth of the world’s global warming pollution. At the same time, we have the greatest capacity to lead the world to solutions - we have the technology and know-how to lead the world in energy efficiency and clean energy, while creating good-paying jobs here at home and strengthening America’s economy.
…
To show leadership at home, it is urgent that the United States take steps to reduce the emissions that cause global warming. The place to start is with our power plants and our cars. Power plants emit 40 percent of all US carbon dioxide -- 10 percent of all carbon dioxide in the world. They also release other dangerous air pollutants that cause more than 30,000 early deaths each year, and tens of thousands of asthma attacks and hospitalizations. We can and must strengthen the Clean Air Act to curb the emissions of all of these pollutants from power plants, including the carbon dioxide that causes global warming….
Cars and SUVs are responsible for another 20 percent of US carbon dioxide emissions. The State of California has taken the lead, demanding that new vehicles emit less carbon pollution. I am proud that Vermont has followed California’s lead, and I think we need to move in that direction at the federal level…
… Virtually all of the other industrial nations have already committed themselves to start acting to reduce their own carbon pollution. Once we show some leadership at home on our own emissions, however, we will be able to return to the bargaining table and make progress together on a fair and effective global partnership to combat global warming.
To be sure, we cannot address global warming unless all polluting countries do their fair share. But we must recognize that the average American is responsible for 10 times as much global warming pollution as the average Chinese and 20 times as much as the average Indian. We have the know-how and the resources to lead the way forward to new clean technologies that produce energy without pollution. We will show the way, but they must follow. And we will prosper, selling the technologies of the future.
… California showed the way in 2001, fighting back against the energy-industry-created electricity crisis with massive new investments in energy efficiency that have already saved California consumers billions of dollars. To encourage renewable energy, I support requiring that 20 percent of our nation’s electricity be generated from renewable resources by 2020.
…
There is another reason why we must embrace energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Our dependence on Middle East oil may indirectly put money in the hands of those who teach young children to hate Americans. Energy policy is not only about protecting our environment, it is about defending our country against terrorism.
…
Clark/
http://clark04.com/issues/turnaround/goal2/…
Specifically, his four-part plan will:
Set tough air pollution standards for electric power plans. Wes Clark will set tough new limits on the four major pollutants from power plants, establish new programs to reduce airborne toxins and carcinogens, and design policies to protect the most vulnerable Americans, including children and the elderly.
Crack down on corporate polluters. Wes Clark will rigorously enforce environmental laws that protect the public health, reduce pollution, and ensure that companies that play by the rules are not unfairly disadvantaged.
Use American technology and market-based approaches to meet air pollution challenges with innovative, job-creating solutions. Wes Clark will promote an aggressive effort to develop innovative pollution control technologies. In addition, he will use market-based approaches that foster environmental protection while promoting economic growth.
Restore trust in our environmental programs. The Bush administration has violated the public's trust in many ways, including failing to provide accurate information on air pollution risks to New York City residents and emergency personnel after the 9/11 tragedy. Wes Clark will tell the truth to the American people and the world.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(0 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
