Stafford’s First Congressional District Candidate Forum: Health Care Reform
Where do the democrats running for the nomination in the 1st CD stand on the House health care bill that was passed and the public option? At the Stafford 1st CD Candidate Forum on 02.20.10, Scott Robinson and Krystal Ball had the following to say:
If you were hoping to get a direct answer on the public option from Scott, don’t hold your breath. He starts out by saying that
I’m a type of person that I personally do not get so wrapped up on what the term is. What I believe is cut the deal. We’re looking for the perfect plan and as a result we have no plan.
Scott, we do have a plan. We need a partner in the Republicans that are willing to stop playing politics with health care and who are willing to work across party lines for the good of the nation. The Republicans have disintegrated into the party of “no.” What’s their plan? To start over! Health care reform is fundamental to our economic growth and now is not the time to start over. Personally, I’m more than open to suggestions on improving the current plan; however, that’s hard to do with an unwilling partner. Haven’t Democrats given up enough in the plan already? If elected, you’d have us give up more?
Scott goes on to say:
My positions on health care are very simple: if it lowers the deficit, if it is available to all Americans and if it is affordable. If it meets those three principles, I will back it. The House bill did that and the Senate bill that. As a result I would have backed either one of those bills.
The public option is a critical part in attaining the competition that is needed to meet those three principles. His answer actually provided for one of the more testy moments in the forum. As you can probably hear, a member of the audience prods him to answer the question and stop evading it. When asked again on whether he supported the public option, he simply shrugged, put his head down and refused to answer.
According to recent polling by the non-partisan Research 2000, 61% of all Virginias overwhelmingly support the public option that includes 62% of independents, 78% of Obama voters and 84% of Democrats. Blue Virginia had an excellent piece on the polling results here. If all of these groups support the public option, why can’t Scott answer the question?
The contrast in leadership between Scott and Krystal could not be any starker. Krystal had the following to say about the public option at the forum:
I’ve been a vocal supporter of the public option from the beginning. And I would have absolutely voted for the health care bill that passed the House. I think that the public option is a critical part of reform because it is one of the most serious efforts that we have in the House bill to actually cut costs and increase competition. It’s the exact sort of thing that a responsible Republican should be for. It’s not a left-wing socialist government takeover. It’s a responsible way to increase competition. And I think it is an important part of reform.
One thing is clear, we all know where Krystal stands on just about every question that she has ever been asked. On the other hand, we have not idea where Scott stands. This election is too important to gamble with our future. The sure bet is a vote for Krystal Ball!
Update: Blue Virginia has an excellent post up now that provides great additional insight on this topic. Also as Blue Virginia points out, “we’ve seen this movie before.” I have no interest in seeing a repeat in 2010.