While I'm not a registered Democrat, and still find
Kerry rather lugubrious {I love that word!}, it's
clear which candidate I will be voting for this
November.
Recently, I caught the end of a Kerry TV ad in which
he said that 'healthcare is a right;' I don't think
that Americans have actually decided that yet,
although perhaps it could be argued to be implied in
the Declaration: "...We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, >>that among these are Life,<<
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Nevertheless,
healthcare coverage for all will _not_ be cheap, and
unless he can generate a national mandate for
universal health coverage, this is so much wind.
Kerry states that "he will give every American access
to the health care plan that the President and Members
of Congress already have." Unless he plans to finance
it by repealing at least part of Bush's tax cuts,
which will require Congressional cooperation, I don't
see how that is possible. [Please note: I haven't
actually looked up the #s, but to cover the ~42
million Americans currently without health insurance
coverage would be expensive -- still, what with the
tossing about of billions for the Iraq war, even $42
million doesn't sound like much.] In addition to the
completely uninsured, there are also quite a few
underinsured; I don't know what the limits of
Congressional healthcare reception are, but am
assuming Cadillac rather than Yugo access, and that
for all Americans would surely be billions of $/yr.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/healthcare/
Interestingly, he ties increasing AIDS with increased
global security problems; I don't think we're anywhere
near there yet, but admit that it is a possibility in
the future, if the pandemic is not contained in the
next decade or so. "...Countries that have struggled
for decades to improve are faced with weakened
economies, debilitated military forces, and a
deteriorating capacity to govern effectively and cope
with rising health care costs [due to AIDS]. These
countries could well become the home base for
terrorists or criminal elements looking for a safe
haven or even for those trading in weapons of mass
destruction..."
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/aids/
In scanning the 'Nurse' Issues page, I didn't see
anything obviously stupid or wrong (but didn't read
every insert either). Certainly I support removing
mandatory overtime, assuring proper staffing ratios
(I've previously ranted on-list about that, in fact),
and protecting whistleblowers.
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/nurses/
Of course I find his position on women's issues far
more palatable than Bush's, although expanding the
Family Medical Leave Act would be financially
difficult (at least, from my admittedly poor grasp of
economics).
http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/women/
Debbi
The Lesser Of Two Weevils? Maru ;)
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