Here is how John Edwards proposes to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons:we ought to put an offer of both sticks and carrots on the table. We ought to make it clear that there are things that America and the Europeans are willing to do [including] making the nuclear fuel available to them, . . . combining that with a set of economic incentives that will be very attractive to the people in, in Iran who’re already feeling an isolation from [Ahmadinejhad]. And then on the stick side say, “But there will be consequences if you don’t give up your nuclear program. And the consequences are the economic decline that you’re seeing within your own country will be accelerated, . . . because the bank—the banks in Europe and the European governments will not continue to do economic business with Iran.”
Edwards cannot be taken seriously as a possible president.
During his Sunday “Meet the Press” apppearance, Edwards also came out strongly for raising taxes to finance universal health coverage—in effect, socialized medicine. Edwards is the same person who ran in 2004 as the senator from North Carolina, the only moderate in that year’s field of liberals. Since he couldn’t even carry North Carolina (or South Carolina, the state of his birth) for Kerry-Edwards, he has now gone completely to the far left, trying to outflank Obama, a genuine, committed progressive, and Hillary, who has always been a progressive at her core. Edwards’ trial lawyer background makes him suspect to begin with. So his open pandering to the Democrats’ leftist primary base on Iran and national health insurance raises even deeper questions about Edwards’ core beliefs.
Hillary will win if she can run ahead of Giuliani and McCain in the polls; that takes care of the only strike against her. That’s how it was with Nixon in 1968. Once polls showed Nixon could be elected president, party faithful were only too happy to nominate him.
Obama? He’s running successfully for Vice President.
3 comments:
Interesting to note, then, that Walmart, AT&T, and Intel joined forces today to call for... Universal Health Care! (AP story)
It seems these businesses realize that by making labor more mobile, putting US employers on an even playing field with each other and the rest of the developed world, and eliminating the huge inefficiencies of the US system (which prefers paying for ER visits over annual physicals or maintenance medications), a single-payer system would actually be a major boon to our economy...
And by the way, single-payer is not the same as socialized medicine (you can look it up).
Aloha,
Derek
Are we now to take Wal-Mart as our business performance model? That's a controversial proposition in some circles. Nevertheless, it's understandable that business wants to off-load its health costs onto government.
About the Wikipedia statement on "single-payer" not being "socialized medicine," I think it's a case of where the "not" really means "is," as in Nixon's statement, "I am not a crook." The same article says single-payer "is used in Canada," and "Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Cuba and other countries [also] employ single-payer financing of health care." In these nations, government controls the health market--government medicine, socialized medicine.
And read the progressive blogs. Edwards' "single-payer option" plan for national health insurance is generating excitement among those who have long pined for America to adopt the European health care model. The key statement that puts Edwards in the government medicine camp--his willingness to raise taxes to finance national health care. Once one accepts the need to raise taxes to pay for health, it's only a question of how much.
That said, it's really Edwards' naive view on how to handle Iran that disqualifies him to be president.
Dad, you can argue until you are red in the face against universal health care for all Americans - it is the future, it will be a big improvement over the current system, and John Edwards is smart to align himself with that policy.
I have no comment about Iran. If the current Administration and its neocon supporters had even a single success they could point to in this arena, I might be willing to entertain your (and their) critiques.
Aloha,
Derek
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