February 25, 2008
Bill On Obama Mailers: "Pure Garbage"
PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- Bill Clinton weighed in for the first time this afternoon on the direct mailers Barack Obama's campaign sent Ohio voters, calling the pieces "pure garbage." Hillary Clinton's campaign has spent the last two days making a fuss about the mailers, which denounce her position on NAFTA and criticize her health care plan.
The former president today sought to counter Obama's assertions that his wife's health care plan mandates coverage.
"It is not true that Hillary's plan forces anybody to buy insurance that they cannot afford," he said. "Nobody will have to pay more than a certain fixed percentage of their income because you are eligible for refundable tax credits to keep your cost down. But everybody does have to be covered or you will never get control of the cost."
He told the audience at Shawnee State University, which included a large bear mascot, that they will "never get a chance again to vote for somebody who can make change in your lives this well." And he highlighted differences in the race, again raising the mailers.
"She voted against Bush's energy subsidy bill, her opponent voted for it," he said. "She is for universal health care coverage, and his plan leaves some out. ... And a lot of the mailings that have been sent out on her about health care and NAFTA are pure garbage, as has been pointed out."
As he continues his tour of southern Ohio, Clinton has been reminding each audience of the stakes. He said today that if HRC wins Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, "I believe she will go on to the convention, be nominated, be the president."
"If you believe the feeling of change is more important than the act of it you have one choice -- an eloquent, intelligent charismatic choice," he said. "But if you believe that the fact of change is more important than the feeling of change. If you believe solutions are what unlocks the future. If you believe that the empowerment of the american people is more important than their momentary incitement you have another choice -- a changemaker, someone who in every time in her life has always made changes for other people."
(NBC/NJ's MIKE MEMOLI)
Posted at 02:38 PM
Comments
"Nobody will have to pay more than a certain fixed percentage..." says Bill. Exactly how much is that? Will Hillary decide what I can afford? Obama's mailer is entirely accurate.
Robert Fast | 02.25.08 03:02 PM
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Crazy Billary!!!!!!!
Allan | 02.25.08 03:40 PM
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Obama is a liar. Clinton's plan makes it affordable for everyone. You can't control costs when prices have to cover those who don't have insurance.
Don | 02.25.08 04:47 PM
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After the 1993 healthcare fiasco, Clinton took $800K from insurance companies in her NY Senate election bid in an attempt to never bring back the then-progressive (and excellent) plans that they had. And indeed she has proven that she can pull out Garbage and mandate everyone buy coverage in a way-less-than-stellar healthcare plan and still somehow calls this superior to Obama's.
Do they think we forgot 1993 or that we're too blind to see that the mailers are merely pointing out the truth about her plan? If she's for the people, then let her clarify her implausible numbers and shady math in her plan calculation.
It is time we send the Clintons back to Arkansas. Better yet, they're still facing several cases in CA and federal courts for Whitewater and the tons of other scandals they swept under the rug. But I hope the Lone Star State routs her in to defeat.
Luis | 02.25.08 06:20 PM
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Hey Don, please study some health economics (or common sense) before you post the all-too-familiar Clinton-supporter rhetoric. The fact is there are two types of uninsured: those who can't afford (often older), and those who can afford it but refuse to buy it because of perceived low risk (younger). The Obama plan covers the former and provides incentives for--but does not force--the latter group to buy insurance, all the while reducing costs for the entire American population.
Claire | 02.25.08 06:25 PM
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