PITTSBURGH, Aug. 9, 2008
Guaranteed Health Care Key To Dem Platform
Democrats Edge Party Closer To Clinton Position, Heading Off Potentially Divisive Debate
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The party's platform committee moved smoothly through a range of issues for the fall campaign and approved a document that will go to the Democratic convention in Denver later this month for adoption.
There was little dissent - or room for it - in the day's meeting and a compromise on health policy took one flash-point off the table.
Obama, soon to be the Democratic nominee, has stopped short of proposing to mandate health coverage for all. He aims to achieve something close to universal coverage by making insurance more affordable and helping struggling families pay for it.
Advisers to Obama and Clinton both told the party's platform meeting they were happy with the compromise, adopted without opposition or without explanation as to how health care would be guaranteed.
In return for the guarantee, activists dropped a tougher platform amendment seeking a government-run, single-payer system and another amendment explicitly holding out Clinton's plan as the one to follow.
The party now declares itself "united behind a commitment that every American man, woman and child be guaranteed to have affordable, comprehensive health care."
Under any system in play, most people would still put out money for health insurance as they do now, but they would get help when needed.
That was a common feature of the plans put forward by Obama and Clinton in the primaries. But she would have required everyone to get insurance while his plan makes it mandatory only for children.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean praised "the spirit of this compromise." Judith McHale, a Clinton supporter who helped to lead the platform meeting, said Obama and Clinton advisers worked collegially throughout the process.
For the 186-member platform committee, one imperative Saturday was to satisfy Clinton loyalists still sore from the often acrimonious primary fight while keeping policy firmly in synch with Obama's campaign.
Democrats made mostly cosmetic changes to a platform draft prepared for the meeting, a process designed to showcase unity more than to air differences in the party at large on hot-button issues such as the Iraq war, abortion and health care.
Party platforms are a statement of principles that are not binding on the candidates or the next president and they are typically given little attention after they are adopted.
Even so, the party's decision to embrace guaranteed health care is bound to become a leading yardstick by which Obama's presidency will be measured if he wins in November.
On Iraq, the platform states that Democrats "expect to complete redeployment within 16 months," reflecting Obama's time frame but not the tone of certainty he brought to it when he was running in the primaries.
The 51-page platform draft showed the influence of Clinton's supporters not only in the extensive section on health care but in its assertions about the treatment of women. Some of her backers believed sexism dogged her campaign for the nomination.
An extensive section on women's rights is included and the votes she received in the primaries are described as "18 million cracks in the highest glass ceiling."
Even so, the platform is thoroughly tuned to Obama's proposals.
It reasserts his promise of energy rebates to struggling families, pension subsidies, a crackdown on predatory lenders, higher taxes for families earning over $250,000, tax breaks for others, billions for economic stimulus and "direct high-level diplomacy, without preconditions," in the case of Iran.
On trade, it promises a multilateral approach to improving the North American Free Trade Agreement, without saying specifically what those changes should be. Obama criticized NAFTA when campaigning in states that felt disadvantaged by it, but the platform offers no suggestion he would take unilateral action against the deal.
Instead, it says: "We will work with Canada and Mexico to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement so that it works better for all three North American countries."
Democrats typically have a strong plank in favor of abortion rights; this year's version is stronger than usual. "The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right," it says.
Gone is the phrase from the past that abortions should be safe, legal and "rare."
The party also pledges to ensure access to adoption programs, prenatal and postnatal care and income support programs for expectant mothers who need the help.
The party also:
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See all 131 Comments"I am more convinced than ever that...the survival of liberty in America does not depend upon political parties, special interest groups, or corporations...God has put the destiny of the country squarely in the hands of ''We the People.''"
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. Thomas Jefferson
"Paper is poverty,... it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself." Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1788
The Democrats sound like desperate people trying to get dates at a prom that was over years ago.
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Posted by txgrouch2006 at 04:53 PM : Aug 10, 2008
lol, Your state has it also! ROFL! Through your county hospital for pete''s sakes!
Doctor co-pays $10-$20 and $5 for prescription!
The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight. Theodore Roosevelt
If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs. - Review of Reviews January 1897 Theodore Roosevelt
Posted by DemWatcher,
So let me guess. Your plan is to make healthcare a service available only to those who can afford to pay the health insurance premiums or have sufficent capital available to pay for healthcare? Based on this I presume your belief is those who cannot afford insurance or to pay for healthcare should be allowed to die.
Heaven forbid that we allow abortions but let them die off if they cannot afford healthcare.
Now thats what I call compasionate conservatism.
-Should be phrased:
"SOCIALISM key to DEM dictatorship"
The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer''s day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart''s content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.
"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"
"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables/The_Ant_and_the_Grasshopper_p1.html
even illegals,,,
even the world,,,
just keep breeding cuz the demonic-rats will give you free ******,,,
that should help prevent climate change,,, NOT
CAPITALISM is the only thing that works,,,
everything else has failed,,,
DEMONIC-RATS are slow learners,,,
Posted by standlee5 at 12:53 AM : Aug 10, 2008
WHAT STATE DO YOU LIVE IN???? I have a feeling A LOT of people would move there.
FULL COVERAGE FOR ONLY $40/MONTH??? That''s incredible. Texas charges around $1500/month.
There must be some SERIOUS subsidizing in your state. I would want to know who''s REALLY paying for it.
Posted by stratmaster2 at 12:06 PM : Aug 10, 2008"
You are talking about specialist care, which is far different from general care. One example does not reflect the entire medical picture in other countries. Most people that cannot afford the price for a specialist DO wait for hours or days, and even then they are not assured of proper care.
The Dems health care plan will strangle the medical industry in America and send our best practitioners heading for greener pastures.
The Dem proposal retains the private insurers, but mandate coverage for all. The insurers are happy because not only they''re still around but now everybody pays them a premium. Competition is preserved. In return they must provide group rates (vs. individual rates as proposed by McCain), cannot denie coverage on pre-existing conditions, cannot increase premiums nilly-willy, etc. The needy will get some assistance to pay for their premiums.
While this is still far from perfect and a lot of detail still need working out, at least it inches closer to the middle-ground, as opposed to McCain''s proposal which pushes it further to the private side.
Posted by incog-nito
And government isn''t a business proposal, most of the clowns putting down government do so because they believe it should be a for profit institution (well not really because they will privatize to their friends and cronies and willingly except half the product/service at double the cost). The bottom line is the Republican party hates government and should never be allowed to govern for that reason.
No gov''t programs could ever be called a complete success, because they depend on tax revenues and thus politics. While people say they like the benefits of those programs, they just don''t want to pay for them. Add to it the increase in the elderly population and the loss of jobs (and thus tax revenues) due to outsourcing, etc., and yes social programs suffer from the same problems the private sector do. But to say that every gov''t program is a failure is a bit of hyperbole to me.
If you''re retired or elderly, make note of this: the true GOP platform wants to get rid of all social programs like S.S. and Medicare, and let the mythical "free market" take care of everything. After all, it''s a dog-eat-dog world out there, isn''t it?
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Posted by usais11 at 11:17 AM :
Are you speaking from first hand experience? I have some experience here, having to fly m wife to Germany for a back operation because we are 15 years behind them in our methods and procedures. On or folow-up visit we were seen imediately and actually sat in the surgeons personal office with him for 20 minutes.
The rest of the Dem promises?
Immigration reform: It''ll be a token effort but not stem the tide of illegal aliens. Big corporate money wants it''s cheap labor and has bought both parties.
Assault weapons ban: Of course, what do you expect? Just more of the pi$$ing match.
Religious groups and social services: Stupid idea. Now government gets to recognize who is and who isn''t a religion. Who will monitor that money? Churches are swimming in money anyway.
Close Guantanamo: Easily done, but why not reform it to real humanitarian standards? Why close it when we the real issue is torture and abuse, which we still do elsewhere? This is about ending the stigma, not solving the problem.
Double the Peace Corps: Great idea! Good for foreign policy.
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