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Vilsack Matches Edwards on Health Care, Set to Talk Energy Next Week

February 05, 2007 6:11 PM

ABC News' Tahman Bradley reports: On a day when his 2008 presidential rival Sen. John Edwards D-NC., released his plan to provide healthcare coverage for every American, former Gov. Tom Vilsack D-Iowa, said that '08 presidential candidates have to be for universal coverage. In a speech Monday before the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, Vilsack called universal healthcare a "moral responsibility" and said that the nation would be better off if every American had healthcare.

"Clearly we have to make a commitment to universal coverage," the former governor said.

Vilsack proposed an expanded Medicaid type program that would cover the uninsured, but said once every American is covered, he hoped the private sector could beat his proposal. And as president, Vilsack said he would make it a national priority to try to cure un-curable diseases so that the nation focused more on preventive care.

The former governor also offered a glimpse of his energy plan, which Vilsack told ABC News he is planning to unveil next week in San Francisco. Vilsack called for a massive U.S. effort to move toward energy independence by cutting the consumption of energy and expanding the use of renewable fuel. "An economy that is based on oil is one that is going to have difficulty being competitive," Vilsack said.

On the Iraq, Vilsack, who has gone further than any other 2008 presidential hopeful by calling on Congress to immediately use its power of the purse to end the Iraq war, reasserted his plea for Congress to show "courage and guts." He said, "a non-biding resolution will not save a single life and may put other lives in jeopardy."

But it was his hope for improving education that dominated Vilsack address. The former governor described how young people fear seeking college education because they cannot afford to pay tuition costs and are thus losing the American dream. To cope with the problem, Vilsack laid out his American Dream initiative, a federal tax credit program that would provide up to $3,000 dollars in tax credit for students with a $5,000 dollar federal grant to get states to lower tuition costs.

Vilsack trails Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY., Edwards and Barack Obama, D-Illin., in polls in early caucus and primary states, including his home state of Iowa, but his spokesman Josh Earnest remains optimistic that the governor will win Iowa and ride that victory to success in other states in the Democratic nomiation fight. With a hint of realization that Iowa is vital to Vilsack's campaign Earnest said, "We have to win Iowa and we will."

February 5, 2007 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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