McCain, Huckabee Court Seniors In Iowa

GOP Hopefuls Talk Health Care At AARP Forum, Other Candidates Skip Event

(AP)  Republican presidential hopefuls John McCain and Mike Huckabee courted seniors Thursday with promises to slow soaring health care costs but neither endorsed the type of universal health care system offered by their Democratic rivals.

"Our job is to make it affordable and available and not set government mandates and big government programs," McCain said at a forum sponsored by AARP, the nation's largest advocate for seniors. "If you like that system I would urge you to go to Canada or England."

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who has made his personal bout with diabetes and obesity a centerpiece of his campaign, said lowering medical costs would solve the nation's health care problems, not universal health care.

"I don't trust the government with my health, and I don't trust insurance companies with my health," he said. "I trust me."

The forum featured a more relaxed town hall-style, with Huckabee and McCain strolling to the stage in the ornate old Orpheum Theater to address about 750 people.

A moderator asked questions about health care and financial security. Both stuck largely to standard campaign themes, with McCain repeating his call for a bipartisan commission to research ways to solve the crisis of Social Security.

"The dirty secret in America today is that Medicare and Social Security are going broke," McCain said. "We owe them the responsibility to make the hard choices and not hand it off to future generations."

Huckabee pointed to his experience as governor dealing with issues like long-term care.

Both candidates said they would push for tax incentives to make it easier for people to buy health insurance.

Huckabee argued that 80 percent of the nation's health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, and that more attention should be paid to preventing illnesses.

"Everything becomes easier when we become a healthier country," he said.

The forum was the second in Iowa this year sponsored by AARP, one of the most important groups in Iowa politics. There are 390,000 AARP members in Iowa, and statistics show that more than 60 percent of those who showed up for Democratic caucuses in 2000 and 2004 were older than 50, the minimum age for membership.

The AARP sponsored a debate last month in Davenport that drew all but one of the major Democratic candidates. Only Huckabee and McCain agreed to appear for Thursday's GOP forum. Other candidates - Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani skipped the meeting, citing scheduling conflicts and the crush of scheduled debates.

[usaprophet]

Ron Paul can win the GOP nomination. If he does, I predict a landslide victory in November of 2008. The oddsmakers in Vegas are currently giving him 6:1 odds to win against Hitlery if he gets the nomination. Romney and the globalist Guliani don''t even have better than a 25:1 chance of winning if they get the GOP nod. All it takes is for formerly apathetic individuals to get off the couch and nominate him in their local Republican primary or caucus process. Political parties are nothing more than tools. Those who read the manual and use the tools properly will win the nomination for their candidate. For the past 20 years, many good people have stayed at home and accepted whatever candidate they let others select for them. This year, those people are learning how to use their vote to bring about positive and long overdue political change in this country. To make a difference, you must participate in the Republican primary election or caucus process in your county, precinct or district. Nothing else matters. If we do this, we win. If not, we lose. The GOP has been suffering from declining participation for decades. Fewer than 20% of registered Republicans have ALL the power because they participate locally. Now the remaining 80% must surge to use their vote as a tool for bringing about positive change. The time to act is now. The time for political revolution has come. The time for Ron Paul is NOW!

[usaprophet]

I agree with Dr. Paul on the Social Security issue. Our nation''s promise to its seniors, once considered a sacred trust, has become little more than a tool for politicians to scare retirees while robbing them of their promised benefits to pay for militarization. Today, the Social Security system is both broke and broken. Those in the system are seeing their benefits dwindle due to higher taxes, increasing inflation, and irresponsible military spending. The proposed solutions, ranging from lower benefits to higher taxes to increasing the age of eligibility, are NOT solutions; they are betrayals. Imposing any tax on Social Security benefits is unfair and illogical. In Congress, Dr. Paul introduced the Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act (H.R. 191), which repeals ALL taxes on Social Security benefits, to eliminate political theft of our seniors'' income and raise their standard of living. Solvency is the key to keeping our promise to our seniors, and he introduced the Social Security Preservation Act (H.R. 219) to ensure that money paid into the system is ONLY used for Social Security. Also, it is fundamentally unfair to give benefits to anyone who has not paid into the system. The Social Security for Americans Only Act (H.R. 190) ends the drain on Social Security caused by illegal aliens seeking the fruits of your labor. We must also address the desire of younger workers to save and invest on their own, for they will never get any Social Security no matter who is elected.

[chucktruck2]

McCain a great American and Huck is cool BUT since Hillary is only getting 52 % of her base so far she needs help from Rudy. Remember a vote for Rudy is a vote for Hillary.Let''s do the math. Rudy only got 1 %of the PROLIFERS vote. They voted for Carter ,remember a Dem.And 37 % of the base is prolife. Go Figure.......Ann Romney is going to kick Hillary''s *#*.