Former Presidential Candidate Edwards Endorses Obama
Former Democratic presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) on Wednesday at a Grand Rapids, Mich., rally announced his endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), in part because of his support for an expansion of health insurance to more residents. At the rally, Edwards discussed his campaign theme of "one America," which included a proposal to expand health insurance to all residents and a number of other plans, and said Obama could implement those plans through his "bold leadership" abilities (Talev, McClatchy/Denver Post, 5/14). Obama later praised Edwards as "one of the greatest leaders we have in the Democratic Party" and promised to work to make health care affordable for all residents and address the issue of poverty (McCormick/Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 5/15).
Joe Trippi, former senior adviser to the Edwards campaign, said that Edwards decided to support Obama despite concerns about the lack of an individual mandate in his health care proposal (Helman, Boston Globe, 5/15). Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards and a supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton's (N.Y.) health care proposal, did not attend the rally or endorse Obama (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/15).
Opinion Piece
The "presidential aspirations" for Clinton might "have died," but her "most famous bad idea is alive and well in Washington, D.C." -- with bipartisan support for an expansion of the role of government in health care, Dick Armey, a former House majority leader and chair of FreedomWorks, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
He adds, "While the Democratic Party appears unified under the banner of big-government health care, the GOP seems conflicted and running scared," as seven Republican senators have said that they support a health care reform bill (S 334) proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The legislation would "force the majority of Americans who are already covered to give up their current, employer-provided plans," Armey writes. According to Armey, evidence indicates that "individual mandates, besides violating an individual's right to choose, actually drive up health care costs" because they "force individuals to purchase coverage they may not need."
He adds, "A rational, conservative solution to rising health care costs gets the government and other third parties out of our health care business." Armey writes, "Both our families and the GOP can win" through an expansion of health savings accounts, a proposal to allow residents to purchase health insurance across state lines, the elimination of "tax policies that encourage third-party payment systems" and support for "health care price disclosure." However, he concludes, "Which GOP will show up on health care reform is yet to be seen" (Armey, Wall Street Journal, 5/15).
