Elizabeth Edwards Bashes Hillary Clinton's Health Plan

[TeamJordan23]

Edwards' Wife Bashes Clinton Health Plan
Sept 19
By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Elizabeth Edwards accused Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton of copying the health care plan outlined more than seven months ago by her husband, John.
The New York senator has failed to lead on an issue in which she has extensive experience, Edwards said.

"Does Mrs. Clinton's plan seem very familiar to you?" Edwards said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Mrs. Clinton has—seven and a half months after John unveiled his health care plan—unveiled a health care plan that is in every material respect just like John's."

Edwards calls Clinton's plan "John Edwards' health care plan as delivered by Hillary Clinton."

Elizabeth Edwards has been one of Clinton's sharpest critics. She said Clinton, working with President Clinton, had a chance in 1993 to push universal health care through Congress and they should have been the first Democrats to come up with a new plan for health care.

"We would have expected her to be the first one out of the box, not the last one out of the box with a health care plan" Elizabeth Edwards said. "And then for her to come up with one that looks like John's, it's almost as if she hasn't been willing to have the courage independently to be a leader on these things."

Edwards also said Clinton shouldn't raise money from people through a program that allowed donors to rub elbows with key members of Congress.

CONTINUE READING: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8ROS0OG0&show_article=1

[Colobo]

1. The Edwards and the Clintons should go after each other mercilessly.

[Cameron27]

13. Katz, don't kid yourself,

Edwards will go after Obama tomorrow, or the next day. The only one who hasn't played negative politics with the Democrats, is Clinton and I have to give her credit for that.

[sandnsea]

19. You can't be serious

The nonsense about Pakistan, Iran? All this silly inexperienced garbage, and whether he's black enough. Of course she's played negative politics.

[Cameron27]

26. Hillary asked if Obama was black enough?

I don't remember that. They did have a couple of skirmishes, you're right about that though.

[DURHAM D]

27. The only person I can recall mentioning Obama's

ethnicity is Elizabeth Edwards.

[MODemocrat]

33. She was indeed the one who said in so many words

"Her husband is not a woman, and he can't be black", This may not be verbatim, but it's close to what she said.

[sandnsea]

34. The only person?

This has been brewing in the African American community for a long time. Since the fight is pretty much between Obama and Clinton, it seems kind of obvious where the "not black enough" garbage has been coming from.

[DURHAM D]

37. What?

You think the Clinton campaign could plant that in the AA community? I hope you are a member of said community; otherwise you have just called an entire group a bunch of sheep.

[sandnsea]

38. No I haven't

I've said that people can be influenced and politics trumps race when dirty campaign tricks come into play.

[DURHAM D]

41. Let me see if I have this right.

You made a mistake about which woman made a reference to race (you blamed Hillary when it was Elizabeth) and next you insulted a whole race of people and than all of a sudden you started talking about "dirty campaign tricks". I can't keep up with the sideways movement.

:hi:

[sandnsea]

44. Not remotely

but again, if it makes you feel better to create a stack of lies and then pretend I said them - there's a whole club devoted to it. You should start a forum or something.

[DURHAM D]

45. Look back at your posts ??????? eom

[sandnsea]

46. I wrote them.

I did not say anything about Elizabeth Edwards. I did not insult a whole race of people.

You made that shit up. Like Hillary makes shit up for her dirty tricks campaigns - which is what I've said from the beginning.

[emilyg]

48. You are not well informed.

[emilyg]

47. Indeed. You're right.

[DURHAM D]

2. Ok - I guess Elizabeth was sent out to change the subject.

John was having a bad day.
(1) Bad news about the attorney that is his big time financial backer going off to jail or something.

(2) The big union didn't endorse him today.

[Tellurian]

4. Edwards dirty laundry just keeps getting dirtier!....gasp!

John Edwards, who spent the offseason working at Wallstreet learning about “poverty,”now says all the money donated to the charity he started up to feed starving children was actually spent on his Presidential Campaign. The man is shameless.

“Mr. Edwards, who reported this year that he had assets of nearly $30 million, came up with a novel solution, creating a nonprofit organization with the stated mission of fighting poverty. The organization, the Center for Promise and Opportunity, raised $1.3 million in 2005, and — unlike a sister charity he created to raise scholarship money for poor students — the main beneficiary of the center’s fund-raising was Mr. Edwards himself, tax filings show.

The organization became a big part of a shadow political apparatus for Mr. Edwards after his defeat as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 and before the start of his presidential bid this time around. Its officers were members of his political staff, and it helped pay for his nearly constant travel, including to early primary states.

While Mr. Edwards said the organization’s purpose was “making the eradication of poverty the cause of this generation,” its federal filings say it financed “retreats and seminars” with foreign policy experts on Iraq and national security issues. Unlike the scholarship charity, donations to it were not tax deductible, and, significantly, it did not have to disclose its donors — as political action committees and other political fund-raising vehicles do — and there were no limits on the size of individual donations.

Of the explicitly political entities, Mr. Edwards’ OneAmerica Committee 527 organization allowed donors to give without limitations. The money was transferred to his leadership political action committee. Leadership committees were initially created to allow prominent politicians to raise money for distribution to needy office-seekers. But Mr. Edwards spent the entire $2.7 million he raised for OneAmerica, including $532,000 raised by the 527, on himself….”

John Edwards is worth 30 million dollars, and he’s living off of the donations people are sending in to fight poverty? What cruel irony is this?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/politics/22edwards.html?ex=1190260800&en=282adfc9dfb94911&ei=5070

[Inspired]

50. Um.....I donated to the One America Committe.

I know what Edwards did with this money. I am fine with it.

Why dredge up an article from June? Did Elizabeth touch a nerve with you?

As a Clinton supporter I'm surprised you want to bring up past news. Talk about dirty laundry!

By the way, Elizabeth is right. John was the first to come out with a substantive plan for health care. He usually is the one to come out first. That is what I call a leader.

[DURHAM D]

3. Article mentions her continuing defense of her Moveon statement. n/t

[sandnsea]

5. Then they both suck ass

Any plan that forces working class people to wait for a tax credit to pay for the required insurance is doomed to failure.

[MannyGoldstein]

15. It's Worse - Credits Don't Matter Much To The Working Poor

The very people who have the toughest time paying for insurance don't actually pay much into what the Government calls taxes - they only pay into Social Security, which actually looks pretty much like a tax, but it ain't called a tax.

So the credits are pretty meaningless. Way to go guys! Give 'em something meaningless!

The plan which my commonwealth of Massachussets has instituted at least subsidizes the plans for the working poor.

Of course, the only intellectually honest way to go is Medicare For All - however, since we have all of the red states filled with voting yokels who think that Medicare For All is stalinist commie pinko crap, our fearless leaders are afraid of doing the right thing.

[sandnsea]

21. Obama's has subsidies too

And does not mandate individuals either. Short of single payer, his is the best plan and shows a genuine understanding of working Americans.

[papau]

25. It's a refundable credit - you need not have paid any tax - they'll cut you a check anyway.

n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

28. In That Case It's Not Nearly So Bad

Hi Papau!

Better to simply subsidize the payments - many of the working poor don't have enough money to "loan" it until the check shows up. But a refundable credit is far better than the alternative!

[papau]

35. they plan to slide the rebate to zero as income increases - but I agree an upfront

payment via a lower premium is better

but MSM will help sell a "tax cut" but they will jump on a subsidy for the poor.

We live in curious times.

Good to see your active and posting -

I couldn't sleep despite the meds because of todays Webb/ habeas/ and HR811 08 audits (Webb's bill getting 56 votes when 3 months ago it got 57- and the right to see a judge before you are imprisoned forever going down in flames - and the rules committee not letting HR 811 - the election bill - go to the floor).

Maybe we'll get better luck in the a.m.

[JoFerret]

6. She should not

...it's a good plan.
(and I like John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards)

[goodgd_yall]

7. Early on, Obama, Clinton, and Edwards were describing basically the same plan

I think Elizabeth is making much ado about nothing.

[sandnsea]

18. Obama's has no mandates, no tax credits

And no blaming people for not being able to afford outrageous premiums. It also has a real insurance reform mechanism that will guarantee every insurance policy meets a set benefit standard.

If we aren't going to get single payer, at least we should get something that respects workers and will provide real premium relief.

[madrchsod]

8. if hillary stole john`s plan we are in big fuck`n trouble.

it just goes to show just how far out of touch these two are with the great unwashed . ya, i`ve been there and neither of these plans won`t do shit for the unemployed . there`s not one word about dental care or eye care is there?..

[Cameron27]

9. This is joke,

who the hell cares who's first 'out of the box' with their plan. How juvenile.

Well everytime Clinton gets nailed for something horribly evil in her plan, John has to be brought down too according to Elizabeth.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Yeah. It's sort of amazing how DU is going nuts

about how terrible Hillary's plan is, and they were going just as nuts about how wonderful Edwards' was. I'm kind of trying to figure that one out.

[Cameron27]

16. I know, it's unbelievable,

If this was about Wes, I'd stick EE's quote right in my sigline.

[partylessinOhio]

10. Mrs. Edwards is making her husband look like a pansy. She is NOT

the candidate. This would not have been tolerated if Hillary had done it when Bill Clinton ran.

[Tellurian]

12. It wouldn't be tolerated if Bill came out for Hillary...

every time they hit a bump in the road!

Hillary handles her own action with a velvet hammer/sometimes sledge, very well!

[calteacherguy]

40. Look like?

I'll hold my tongue, and say no more...

[FrenchieCat]

11. So if it's the same health plan, does that make Hillary Cinton as much of a

populist as John Edwards? Cause I haven't seen anything else that he's done that says he any more so than she at this point.....and at least, she can hit the ground running with Bill.

[Tellurian]

22. The Health Plans all have similarities..

Except Obama's HCP steers clear of medicare and uses very loose (wiggle room) language when defining his programs.

Hillary, on the other hand, has a much firmer proposal and tightened language. Hillary's proposal provides the answers before you ask the questions:

AMERICAN HEALTH CHOICES PLAN

Hillary's American Health Choices Plan covers all Americans and improves health care by lowering costs and improving quality. It speaks to American values, American families, and American jobs.

It puts the consumer in the driver's seat by offering more choices and lowering costs. If you're one of the tens of million Americans without coverage or if you don't like the coverage you have, you will have a choice of plans to pick from and that coverage will be affordable. Of course, if you like the plan you have, you can keep it.


* Affordable: Unlike the current health system where insurance premiums send people into bankruptcy, the plan provides tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs. The tax credits will ensure that working families never have to pay more than a limited percentage of their income for health care.

* Available: No discrimination. The insurance companies can't deny you coverage if you have a pre-existing condition.

* Reliable: It's portable. If you change or lose your job, you keep your health care.


IT'S YOUR CHOICE:
If you have a plan you like, you keep it. If you want to change plans or aren't currently covered, you can choose from dozens of the same plans available to members of Congress, or you can opt into a public plan option like Medicare. And working families will get tax credits to help pay their premiums.

IT'S GOOD FOR SMALL BUSINESSES:
Small businesses are the engine of new job growth in the U.S. economy but face bigger challenges when it comes to providing health care for their employees. Hillary would give tax credits to small businesses that provide health care to their workers to help defray their coverage costs. This will make small businesses more competitive and help create good jobs with health benefits that will stay here in the US.

REINS IN INSURANCE COMPANIES
Insurance companies won't be able to deny you coverage or drop you because their computer model says you're not worth it. They will have to offer and renew coverage to anyone who applies and pays their premium. And like other things that you buy, they will have to compete for your business based on quality and price. Families will have the security of knowing that if they become ill or lose their jobs, they won't lose their coverage.

HILLARY CAN GET IT DONE
Nobody has worked harder or longer to improve health care than Hillary Clinton. From her time in Arkansas when she improved rural health care to her successful effort to create the SCHIP Children's Health Insurance program which now covers six million children, Hillary has the strength and experience to ensure that every man, woman and child in America has quality, affordable health care.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/?sc=1353&utm_source=1353&utm_medium=

[jsamuel]

17. John Edwards said the same thing. He said that

"If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then I'm flattered."

[FrenchieCat]

20. He must have forgotten to tell his wife........

that she's supposed to be flattered.

I can't imagine that they didn't discuss Hillary's health plan? After all, Hillary's gotten some decent press on that plan. :shrug:

[jsamuel]

23. If you couldn't tell by the quote

he was being sarcastic and his tone was not happy

[FrenchieCat]

24. But it couldn't be the same health plan..........folks HATE Hillary's plan, and

Loved Edwards' plan.

[jsamuel]

30. ah, but they have different advocates

one more successful than the other

Edwards isn't advocating for job interview health care requirements.

[rinsd]

60. Fair is fair.

Hillary stuck her foot in her mouth on that one.

Just as Edwards stuck his foot in his mouth when he was talking about required doctor visits :evilgrin:

[rinsd]

59. I have no problem with it.

They have similar plans and he put his out first.

The problem for Edwards is that by holding back on her plan till after Labor day now its the only thing people are talking about. And this is the traditional time people start paying a little attention.

Edwards is now in a bit of a quandry. Obama outflanks him on reform and the Iraq war, now Hillary has taken away(or at least blunted) his advantage in health care.

While I think he has to attack to at least slow down the other two, he should again start talking about his plans to eliminate poverty. That is his issue. Fuck those Republican assholes talking about haircuts and houses. He can't shy away from what is his strength.

[MODemocrat]

29. Poor Poor Elizabeth

Her fangs are showing and it's not a pretty picture.:eyes: :cry:

[Tellurian]

31. Pretty unhealthy too... for her condition..

It's really a shame she's chosen the low road for this campaign.

[Inspired]

52. Don't worry about Elizabeth, OK?

She knows what she is doing. I'm proud of her because she speaks the truth.

[karynnj]

32. This is not fair

On a high conceptual level, all the Democratic health care plans will have much in common. In fact there are similarities in Edwards' plan to Kerry's, which was not completely different than Gore's or Clinton's - or from plans proposed by people like Ted Kennedy.

The differences are actually more interesting - in picking between them - than the similarities.

[DURHAM D]

36. This is a really interesting and risky strategy by John -

He sends his wife out to bash Hillary. Hillary has not been responding to these sort of pops as she does not want to validate his/her existence. Meanwhile, Edward's fans love it when Elizabeth goes on the attack but I don't think it will move the poll numbers and has no real affect on the discourse. The down side is that John runs the risk of getting called out (by media) for letting his wife do the dirty work.

So, I think Joe Trippi is doing everything he can to get a response from Hillary. I think he will keep pushing and pushing hoping to get a rise out of her. But he is risking the image of the Edwards campaign.

I would like be a fly on the wall as the Hillary camp debates when and where to respond. I think they will hold for now.

[calteacherguy]

42. Respond? To this kind of crap?

No way, Hillary is too smart and adult for that.

Hillary has a greater lead over Obama and Edwards combined than Edwards has support, and for good reason.

Edwards (with a lot of help from his wife) made himself irrelevant.

[DURHAM D]

49. I think John lost his bid for the WH last week.

When he decided to blow his budget on the media buy following the Bush speech I thought it was a bold move. I hoped his message would move the debate, inspire a better dialog and draw more casual observers of the political process into the game.

Instead, he was unbelievably arrogant when he took the authoritarian approach of instructing a body of 535 nationally elected officials as to what they needed to do. Why didn't he just write letters to them and save his money? I can not imagine that it won him even a single vote in that group - including and most particularly the ones who reside on the same side of the aisle that he once did.

Also, someone needs to explain to him that the "Dems were elected to congress in 2006 to stop the war" is a right wing talking point. The exit polls show interest in ("interest" in the war not "stopping" the war was the polling question) that issue was third or fourth after the economy, immigration and the general war on terror. I have yet to find a single exit poll that supports the Rove and minions talking point fed to the media and constantly repeated, including by JE and DK, is based in fact. The purpose of the talking point was to embarrass Pelosi and Reid and make them appear inept (and it has greatly succeeded) because the Rovers knew the Dems didn't have the numbers to do a damn thing. All John did with his speech was remind the country that the congress can't get anything done. Nice job John but not kind to the political party you are supposed to be a part of. I know John keeps using this talking point to try and distinguish himself but the proof of the spoof is in his (and DK's) poll numbers.

Americans want a change in the war strategy but they don't want to be played like a cheap violin.

[Inspired]

53. You must be joking! n/t

[DURHAM D]

55. Not at all. He is dead in the water. eom

[Inspired]

62. There's a difference between being a leader

and playing follow the leader. Elizabeth knows this and is speaking the truth.

A vote for Hillary is a vote for no health care reform because she's already proven she doesn't have what it takes to get it pushed through.

A vote for Hillary is a vote for status quo.

You can say Edwards is dead in the water all you want. It doesn't help our country much if your prediction is true....but oh well....at least you will have won, huh? A hollow victory, in my most humble opinion.

If he is 'dead in the water' tell me who Hillary will follow?

**edited for spelling

[calteacherguy]

39. This is just silly. It matters not who "gets their plan out first."

Nor does it matter that the plans are similar. Except, I guess, to Elizabeth Edwards.

If she thinks it's so similar to her husband's plan, she ought to be flattered and praise Hillary for coming to a similar conclusion on the best approach to healthcare, not deriding her.

Very, very low indeed. :thumbsdown:

[Hieronymus]

43. Of course Hillary copied Edwards' health plan .. it's all too obvious.

[Adelante]

54. Nonsense

The plans are similar because there has been an ongoing public discussion on health care in the media, at think tanks, in congress, and at kitchen tables everywhere for over a decade, some of it drawing on Clinton's earlier work, for that matter. The ideas on how to do it have been in the air the candidates breathe. There is nothing original about any of it. There were as good plans in platforms of 2004 candidates, including Kerry and Clark, and now it's four years later and today those would reflect progress over time, I'd expect. Edwards took his 2004 platform and spent three years updating it so he could splash out his plans for everything under the sun ahead of the pack, thinking it was clever to do, but he didn't invent anything new or revolutionary and doesn't hold a copyright on health plans. There are small differences (except for Kucinich who has the only good sense plan, in my opinion), and we need to look to the differences not the similarities, but it will be Congress who refines any plan any future president brings in, and nobody will recognize what comes out of it as one or another candidate's plan in the end. It will be the Democratic plan. Hillary stole MY plan! Good grief. Are we children?

[BootinUp]

61. yes, lol. n/t

[1932]

51. Stating a fact is "bashing"? I would say the EE "bashes" this and "bashes" that

if I were a right winger who knew that she was a powerful, honest voice, and the asset of great liberal candidate, and I wanted to undermine her effectiveness. I would say every time she spoke that she was bashing someone to make her sound like a nasty biotch (which she obviously is not).

[Beaverhausen]

58. Bingo. The media is just trying to stir things up with this crap.

I love EE. In fact, I'm attending a fundraiser where she will be appearing next friday night here in Los Angeles. I love that she speaks her mind.

[Clintonista2]

56. Is Elizabeth Edwards running for president, or is john?

This is why I laugh every time a JE supporter says "BILL CAMPAIGNS FOR HILLARY TOO MUCH!"

[rinsd]

57. LOL but one Edwards supporter has been vehement that his plan is better than hers

:rofl: