Edwards Evening News RoundUp: Differences Matter

Welcome to the Edwards Evening News Roundup!

Tonight's features will highlight some key differences between John Edwards and the other top tier candidates on the following issues:

I. HealthCare

II. Iran

III. Peru Free Trade Agreement

Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards is continuing to draw distinctions between his policies and plans and the other candidates' noting that voters deserve to understand the key differences. Edwards has done so on a number of issues including Health Care, Iran and Trade.

HEALTHCARE

John Edwards was the first candidate to unveil a Universal Health Care Plan. Ensuring that all Americans are covered is a top priority for Edwards.

There are notable differences between Edwards' Health Care Policy and those of Hillary and Obama:

Barack Obama's plan leaves out 15 million people," said Edwards. "The truth is that some people will choose not to buy insurance even though it's affordable, knowing that the rest of us will pay for their emergency room visits."

"But it is just as bad to say that everyone will have insurance without a plan to get there," he continued. "Hillary Clinton says her plan will cover everyone through a 'mandate' but does not provide even the most rudimentary idea much less a detailed plan of how this 'mandate' would work."

ABC News

Obama's HealthCare Policy Will Leave Over 15 Million Behind

Edwards, the first top tier candidate to release a Universal Health Care plan, points out that Obama's plan is not truly Universal as it lacks a mandate that will result in leaving 15 million Americans without healthcare coverage.

Krugman notes in his recent article, "Mandates and Mudslinging":

From the beginning, advocates of universal health care were troubled by the incompleteness of Barack Obama’s plan, which unlike those of his Democratic rivals wouldn’t cover everyone.

Hillary's HealthCare Policy Lacks a Plan to Achieve Universal Coverage

With regard to Hillary's plan, Edwards has raised the question of: "How to get there." The first concern being the influence of corporate lobbyists, citing the fact that Hillary has recieved more donations from insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists than any candidate, Democratic or Republican---the same lobbyists who handed out checks on the Congress floor to block her healthcare plan in the nineties. We know how that ended. Americans didn't get Universal Health Care Coverage. (But we did NAFTA).

Moreover, Edwards has stated that Hillary's plan does not provide a plan of how her mandate would work. So on the surface, Hillary's plan sounds pretty good. It is, afterall, similiar to Edwards' plan. (Hillary released her plan months after Edwards unveiled his). But, how will it be implemented? Will it crafted by lobbyists before it goes to vote? How will the mandate be enforced? These questions leave gapping holes in her plan.

By contrast, Edwards has detailed how his plan will achieve truly Universal HealthCare Coverage.

Under the Edwards plan, when Americans file their income taxes, they would be required to submit a letter from an insurance provider confirming coverage for themselves and their dependents.

If someone did not submit proof of coverage, the Internal Revenue Service would notify a newly established regional or state-based health-care agency (which Edwards has dubbed a Health Care Market).

Those regional agencies would then evaluate whether the uninsured individual was eligible for Medicare (which covers those over 65), Medicaid (which covers the indigent), or S-CHIP (the State Children's Health Insurance Program which targets the working poor).

If the individual was not eligible for either of those existing public programs, the regional-health care agency would enroll the individual into the lowest cost health-care plan available in that area. The lowest-cost option could be a new Medicare-like public option or a private insurance plan.

The newly covered individual would not only have access to health benefits but would also be responsible for making monthly payments with the help of a tax credit.

The exact size of the financial obligation would vary according to a person's income (lower-income Americans would receive larger tax credits).

WATCH A NEWSCLIP OF EDWARDS DISCUSSING HOW HIS HEALTHCARE MANDATES WILL WORK

Edwards is not afraid to take on the system. He's going to shake up in Washington. In fact, he has pledged to revoke Congress members healthcare coverage if they fail to pass Universal HealthCare coverage by July 2009.

For more on this, see nyceve's excellent diary: Edwards reaffirms pledge to strip THEM of their Cadillac coverage

Today, Edwards kicked off "Restoring the American Dream" week to highlight five core proposals, of which Healthcare was one:

Edwards has challenged Americans to rise up and meet the great moral test of our time to ensure our generation leaves this country better for our children than it was when our parents gave it to us.

For more details on some of these core proposals see these great diaries from today:

The Edwards Tax Plan: Reward Work -- Not Wealth by jamess

John Edwards Ramping Up in Iowa and New Hampshire! by be inspired

IRAN

John Edwards has proposed a clear and responsible plan for dealing with Iran. He believes it is critical that we stabilize Iran and protect America through diplomatic measures:

We need to engage Iran directly. As president, Edwards will negotiate with Iranian leaders who have met a number of criteria, such as recognition of the international rule of law, recognition of the rights of Jews and the state of Israel, and a commitment to the promise of diplomacy.

Edwards strongly resists a rush to war with Iran through radical measures and has been outspoken in his opposition to the Kyl-Lieberman bill. Today, Edwards released the following statement:

EDWARDS STATEMENT ON NEW NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE ON IRAN

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Today, Senator John Edwards released the following statement on the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran:

“The new National Intelligence Estimate shows that George Bush and Dick Cheney's rush to war with Iran is, in fact, a rush to war. The new NIE finds that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that Iran can be dissuaded from pursuing a nuclear weapon through diplomacy. This is exactly the reason that we must avoid radical steps like the Kyl-Lieberman bill declaring Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, which needlessly took us closer to war. And it’s why I have proposed that we pursue a comprehensive diplomatic approach instead.”

Hillary Clinton voted for the Kyl-Lieberman Resolution and Obama did not vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Resolution. So, while 'Hillary talks like a dove, she has voted like a hawk.'

PERU FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

The Peru Free Trade Agreement passed the House of Representives in early November with very few Democrats voting for it. This deal has not been endorsed by a single Union or environmental group. The Peru Free Trade agreement largely benefits the bottom line of big corporations at the expense of working Americans, the environment and Peruvian farmers.

Today, discussions were opened on the Peru FTA in the Senate and the bill is to go to vote this week.

Several weeks ago, John Edwards issued a statement opposing the Peru Free Trade Agreement:

REJECTING THE PERU DEAL

George Bush is trying to expand the NAFTA approach to Peru, Panama, South Korea and Colombia. NAFTA was written by corporate interests and insiders in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but workers have lost out, both American and Mexican. Under NAFTA, the U.S. has lost more than 1 million jobs, while average wages for Mexican manufacturing workers have fallen by 12 percent.

- Despite progress on labor and environmental standards, worker rights are no stronger than George Bush’s willingness to enforce them. He has proven his indifference to workers through seven years of inaction.

- Congress should not pass further trade deals without first taking steps to address the stagnant wages and insecurity caused by globalization. Congress needs to adopt universal health care, reform the tax code, strengthen unions, and expand and renew trade adjustment assistance.

- The four trade deals which have been proposed establish expansive investor rights that actually create incentives to further relocate U.S. jobs overseas, by compensating corporations if our environmental, health or even local zoning laws allegedly undermine their expected profits. They also unfairly allow foreign corporations to challenge many of our laws.

- The proposed deals even limit how we can spend our own tax dollars by banning many Buy America policies

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both plan to vote for the Peru Free Trade Agreement.

Please join join Labor Unions, Environmental groups and John Edwards and ask them to vote NO to the Peru Free Trade Deal.

These key differences on HealthCare, Iran and Trade, along with a number of others, mean the difference between merely replacing Corporate Republicans with Corporate Democrats and real change.

For real change, we need a President who is willing to shake things up in Washington, take on the rigged system, and end the game. That candidate is John Edwards.