ON HEALTH INSURANCE
We coupled our success in insuring kids with a new early childhood initiative that we call “Success by Six.” As a result, nine out of 10 parents with a newborn baby – regardless of income – get a home visit from a community outreach worker who's there to help them with parenting skills and to put those parents in touch with the services they may need or want. Thanks to Success by Six, we've cut our state's child abuse rate nearly in half, and child sexual abuse of kids under 6 is down by 70%.
For a year now, I have been traveling this country advocating a repeal of Bush's tax cuts so that we can provide universal healthcare and restore fiscal discipline.
My (health care) plan will cost $88.3 billion – less than half of the president's tax cut – with money left over to pay down the deficits run up by this administration.
Governor Dean�s plan will automatically enroll uninsured taxpayers in Medicaid, FCHIP, or UHBP insurance plans through their tax returns. For uninsured taxpayers who fail to make a choice, the default result would be their enrollment in the appropriate plan, although they later would again have the option to drop the coverage before paying any premium.
My plan consists of four major components:
First, and most important, in order to extend health coverage to every uninsured child and young adult up to age 25, we'll redefine and expand two essential federal and state programs – Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Under my plan, we cover all kids and young adults up to age 25 – middle income as well as lower income.
Second, we'll give a leg up to working families struggling to afford health insurance. Adults earning up to 185% of the poverty level – $16,613 – will be eligible for coverage through the already existing Children Health Insurance Program.
We'll establish an affordable health insurance plan people can buy into, providing coverage nearly identical to what members of Congress and federal employees receive.
To cushion the costs, we'll also offer a significant tax credit to those with high premium costs.
Third, we need to recognize that one key to a healthy America is making healthcare affordable to small businesses. We need to modernize the system so employers will have an option beyond passing rising costs on to workers or bailing out of the system entirely.
we'll organize a system nearly identical to the one federal workers and members of Congress enjoy.
The federal government will pick up 70% of COBRA premiums for employees transitioning out of their jobs, but we'll expect employers to pay the cost of extending coverage for an additional two months.
The final element of this plan is a clear, strong message to corporate America that providing health coverage is fundamental to being a good corporate citizen. I look at business tax deductions as part of a compact between American taxpayers and corporate America. We give businesses certain benefits, and expect them to live up to certain responsibilities.
ON PRESCIPTION DRUGS:
Preventing the pharmaceutical companies from abusing patent privileges to avoid competition from generics
Assisting in the development of formularies that force competition among drugs based on therapeutic equivalency
Direct the FDA to approve direct-to-consumer advertising for drugs, devices and procedures only where there is a compelling health benefit and where the product has demonstrated that it would be cost-effective if widely used.
Allowing states wide latitude to experiment with ways of controlling drug costs as Vermont and Maine have done, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently affirmed.
Removing restrictions from importation of drugs from countries that have protections comparable to those of the U.S.
Require pharmaceutical manufacturers to disclose the value, nature, and purpose of any gift, fee, subsidy, or other economic benefit provided to any physician, hospital, nursing home, pharmacist or health benefit plan administrator. Modeled after Vermont's first in the nation law signed by Governor Dean last June.
ON EDUCATION:
“The President's education bill is the second largest unfunded mandate (after special education) in the history of federal education legislation. It is the largest reduction of local school board decision-making power in history.”
By the President's own measure, Vermont's students collectively rank sixth in the country. Now our system is at risk because of a new federally dictated definition of quality.
To add insult to injury, the President's bill mandates that schools certify that they allow “Constitutionally” defined school prayer
Vermont approach: First, we require and pay for high standard (but not standardized) testing, and publish the school-by-school results annually.
Second, we use professional development to help non-performing teachers and schools do a better job.
Finally, the state pays a substantial share of new school construction.
The federal government must recognize that an enormous number of our teachers are retiring in the coming years and provide incentives to inspire a new generation of great teachers.
Washington needs to provide a cost share to help local communities fix their most rundown schools - not only improving education, but providing construction jobs as well.
The most important predictor is the attitude in that child's home toward education. We must involve parents again; we must insist that they participate in their children's education; and we must make schools and school boards responsive to parents.
Special Education If elected president, Dean will at long last fulfill the federal government�s obligation by fully funding Title I in his first budget.
ON THE ECONOMY:
Repeal the Bush tax cuts, and use those funds to pay for universal health care, homeland security, and investments in job creation that benefit all Americans.
Set the nation on the path to a balanced budget, recognizing that we cannot have social or economic justice without a sound fiscal foundation.
Create a fairer and simpler system of taxation.
Assure that Social Security and Medicare are adequately funded to meet the needs of the next generation of retirees.
ON NATIONAL SECURITY AND FOREIGN POLICY:
I will not divide the world into us versus them. Rather, I will rally the world around fundamental principles of decency, responsibility, freedom, and mutual respect. Our foreign and military policy must be about the notion of America leading the world not America against the world.
Gour goals for American leadership in the world:
First, defeat the threat posed by terrorists, tyrants, and technologies of mass destruction.
Second, strengthen our alliances and ensure Russia and China are fully integrated into a stable international order.
Third, enlarge the circle of beneficiaries of the growing world economy.
And fourth, ensure that life on our fragile planet is sustainable.
I believed then (at the start of the war) and I believe now that removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq was a just cause. But not every just cause requires that we go to war, especially with inadequate planning and without maximum support.
The goal of our policy with North Korea must be to prevent continued nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula and to prevent the transfer of weapons or materials to third parties or terrorists.
In Iran, we again must use the full range of economic and diplomatic tools at our disposal. We must work with the Europeans and the Russians to stop Iranian development of nuclear weapons and their support of terror. And we must do what we can to strengthen and encourage the voices among Iranian youth who are striving for true change and freedom.
The United States must reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern oil and we must have a President who is willing to confront the Iranians, the Syrians, the Saudis, and others who send money to Hamas, and finance a worldwide network of fundamentalist schools which teach small children to hate Americans, Christians, and Jews.
ON THE ENVIRONMENT:
Environmental policy cannot be separated from other issues such as energy, trade, or economic policy. This is one reason that I will ask Congress to elevate the Environmental Protection Agency to cabinet status immediately
I would direct that adoption of health-based standards for air toxins be accelerated.
Further, I would immediately crack down on those companies that violate New Source Review requirements (and close current loopholes)
The State of California has taken the lead, demanding that new vehicles emit less carbon pollution. I am proud that Vermont has followed California�s lead, and I think we need to move in that direction at the federal level.
ON CIVIL RIGHTS:
I will support affirmative action, from which we have all benefited, because it has strengthened our institutions and provided opportunity.
I will unflinchingly defend a woman�s right to choose against those who would take away this right.
I will nominate federal judges with outstanding legal credentials, records of professional excellence, and demonstrated commitment to the constitutional principles of equality, liberty, and privacy.
I will work to expand equal rights to same sex couples and ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, strengthen federal protections against anti-gay violence, give federal employees the right to name same-sex partners as beneficiaries, remove bias from our immigration laws, and end the military�s �Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell� Policy.
I will work to ensure that racial profiling ends and will direct my Attorney General to use regulatory authority under existing anti-discrimination laws the 1964 Civil Rights Act to define racial profiling as discrimination, and to withhold federal funds from state and local law enforcement that violate those regulations.
I will appoint an Attorney General who sees our constitution not just as a document to be manipulated, ignored, and violated, but recognizes and respects it as the fabric that binds the American community together.
I will oppose expansion of the Patriot Act, efforts to remove sunset clauses included in the act, and will seek to repeal the portions of the Patriot Act that are unconstitutional.
I will put the weight of my office behind the Innocence Protection Act, proposed by Senator Patrick Leahy, which would expand access to DNA testing and strengthen the quality of lawyers for defendants facing the death penalty.
I will protect the civil rights of immigrants detained by the Department of Homeland Security.
I will work for federal legislation to restore the right to vote in any federal election for ex-felons who have paid their debt to society.
I will appoint judges who understand that civil rights laws must be interpreted broadly, and who do not erect imaginary constitutional barriers to the enforcement of civil rights. Congress may also need to amend the ADA to overcome adverse court decisions.
ON AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES:
Fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Enact the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA) to provide a new Medicaid benefit allowing individuals eligible for nursing home care access to community-based attendant services instead.
Enact the Family Opportunity Act. This proposal would expand Medicaid coverage to children with severe disabilities living in middle income families.
Provide technical support as states implement �Olmstead� plans to provide viable, sustainable options for community-based living.
The EEOC and the civil rights offices in the Departments of Justice, Education and HHS need the tools to vigorously enforce laws that integrate people with disabilities into society.
Appoint a “Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy.” This staff member would be responsible for implementing my disability agenda and ensuring agency compliance with existing laws.
ON IMMIGRATION:
I will work to ensure that people who work hard, pay taxes, and otherwise obey the rules can become full participants in our society, including becoming citizens.
I will work to regularize the inevitable future migration of labor in a way that makes economic and humanitarian sense. Deaths in the desert do neither.
I will propose reforms that ensure we can meet our economy�s need for workers at all skill levels, without pitting foreign workers against US workers and while respecting workers' rights including the right to organize.
I will work to forge stronger partnerships with countries from which immigrants migrate, especially Mexico, so that in the long run, fewer people will be driven by desperation to break laws and risk their lives for basic opportunities every human being deserves.
I will work to ensure that immigrants who are detained by the Department of Homeland Security are afforded their basic civil rights and that our concern for national security does not become another excuse for racial profiling.
I will build on our country�s long history of welcoming immigrants in ways that reflect our need for security but do not sacrifice the basic ideals upon which this nation was founded.
ON WOMENS RIGHTS:
I strongly support a woman�s right to choose, and I believe that government does not have a role in the personal medical decisions between a patient and her doctor. I�ve stood firmly against past legislative proposals that would require parental notification and chip away at the rights granted by Roe v. Wade. In my Presidency, such slippery-slope proposals will be met with fierce opposition.
I will push for an expanded Federal paid family leave law, similar to the legislation already passed in California.
I believe that the right to privacy is enshrined in the Constitution, and as President I would do everything in my power to preserve that right.
One of the most outrageous attacks on a woman�s right to choose is the so-called Partial Birth Abortion bill. As a physician, I know that there is no such thing in the medical literature as �partial birth abortion.� But there are rare times when a doctor is called upon to perform a late term abortion to save a woman�s life or protect her from injury. Yet the House of Representatives recently made it a federal crime for a doctor to perform such medically necessary procedures. That bill will chill the practice of medicine and endanger the health of countless women.
ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:
I am delighted that the Supreme Court has upheld the principle of affirmative action in education.
I would pursue policies that encourage racial diversity on college campuses because I know that diversity serves important goals – it produces benefits for all students, and for society as a whole.
ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT:
I believe the death penalty should be available for extreme and heinous crimes, such as terrorism or the killing of police officers or young children. But it must be carried out with scrupulous fairness. I applaud former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who imposed a moratorium rather than administer a system in which 13 innocent men were released from death row.
As President, I would:
Promptly instruct my Attorney General to evaluate the federal death penalty system, take steps to ensure that it is applied fairly and reliably, and reverse Ashcroft�s overzealous policies.
Push for passage of the federal Innocence Protection Act to strengthen protections against unjust imposition of the death penalty.
Establish a Presidential Commission on the Administration of Capital Punishment to analyze the causes of wrongful convictions around the country and recommend additional reforms at the federal and state level.
ON GUN LAWS:
Vermont has the lowest homicide rate in the United States. During my eleven years as Governor, the highest number of murders in a single year was 25 and the lowest number was five. Over half of these were domestic assaults, and the majority were not committed with a firearm.
If you say �gun control� in Vermont, Tennessee, or Colorado, people think it means taking away their hunting rifle. If you say “gun control” in New York City or Los Angeles, people are relieved at the prospect of having Uzis or illegal handguns taken off the streets. They�re both right. That�s why I think Vermont ought to be able to have a different set of laws than California.
I believe the federal gun laws we have�like the Brady Bill�are important, and I would veto any attempt to repeal or gut them.
The Assault Weapons Ban expires next year, and it should be renewed.
I don�t think we need a lot of new federal laws. But we do need to do a few things at the federal level, like requiring Insta-Check on all retail and gun show sales.
We also must do a better job of enforcing the laws on the books. President Bush promised to be tough in enforcing gun laws, but his Administration has prosecuted only about 2% of all gun crimes and they are virtually ignoring 20 of the 22 major federal gun laws on the books.
After that, I would let the states decide for themselves what, if any, additional gun safety laws they want.
ON LGBT RIGHTS (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-, and Trans-gender)
I�m proud to say that as Governor of Vermont, I signed legislation to grant homosexual couples the right to enter into civil unions. This law, the first of its kind in the United States, guarantees lesbian and gay couples the same basic legal rights that married couples enjoy the right to inherit property, obtain child custody, visit a partner in the hospital and control a partner�s affairs upon death.
As President I would:
Work to ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Strengthen federal protections against anti-gay violence.
Give federal employees the right to name same-sex partners as beneficiaries.
End bias in the immigration laws. Current law authorizes family members of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to obtain immigrant visas, but the Immigration and Nationality Act's definition of family does not include same-sex partners.
End the military�s �Don�t Ask, Don�t Tell� Policy.
ON LABOR:
As President, I would work to undo the harsh anti-labor policies of the current Administration. For example, we need a tough ergonomics standard, not just another scientific study.
I support a number of specific proposals to protect the right of workers to form a union:
Card Check. Federal labor law should be amended to declare that a union is established whenever a majority of workers have signed cards stated that they wish to unionize. This would avoid protracted and divisive campaigns in which employers use intimidation and coercion to block unionization.
Ban on captive audience / mandatory anti-union meetings. Under current law, employers may schedule meetings that employees MUST attend at which employers advocate against formation of a union. Federal law should ban such practices.
Ban on one-on-one anti-union meetings. Current law permits employers to pull individual workers off the job to attend one-on-one anti-union propaganda sessions. Such inherently coercive one-on-one meetings should be banned as an unfair labor practice.
Streamlined NLRB procedures. The process by which the National Labor Relations Board certifies unions is subject to endless appeals and delays. Employers should have only one opportunity to challenge the validity of a new union, and the process must be streamlined so that workers can form a union in a timely way.
New civil penalties for failure to negotiate in good faith. Right now there are no serious consequences if an employer ignores a newly formed union. There should be meaningful financial penalties available to federal regulators when an employer fails to negotiate in good faith with a union.
In addition, federal law should be amended to expand the number of workers who can unionize. Tens of millions of workers are unjustifiably denied the right to unionize. The ban on unions for supervisors, agricultural workers and independent contractors is too broad and should be narrowed. The rights of state employees to unionize should be strengthened.
