GOV. DEVAL PATRICK: Well, I respect Senator Schumer, but no, I don't agree with him. I mean, I think Americans understand the interconnectedness of a whole host of solutions that government should pay attention to. Not that they think government should solve every problem in their lives. But that government should help them help themselves. And you ask somebody who is not insured and is sick, or someone who is getting buried by healthcare-related debt, whether healthcare reform makes a difference. And they will tell you that it does make a difference.
CRUZ: We've got to demonstrate that the campaign words Republicans used on the trail were more than just talk, that we're willing to honor our commitment.
Q: But you're willing to shut down departments and you're willing to take the backlash? It didn't work very well with ObamaCare.
CRUZ: At the time, you and a lot of folks in the press said what a disaster it was to stand up and fight on ObamaCare. That it was going to cost Republicans the majority. It was going to cost seats. Let me point out, we just had an historic election where we won. We've got the biggest majority in the House since the 1920s. And the number one issue that candidates campaigned on was ObamaCare. Not only did the disaster that a lot of folks predicted not happen, it was the biggest victory we've had in a long time.
FIORINA: I think that the Republican House will pass the bill that repeals it. I think ultimately this bill does need to be repealed.
Q: And you don't think the Senate will?
Source: Meet the Press 2014 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls Nov 16, 2014
FIORINA: This law is longer than a Harry Potter novel. It's been accompanied of tens of thousands of paper regulation. Of course nobody understands it.
Q: But of course, with healthcare, you're going to write a big, long law. Or you don't?
FIORINA: Well, or, you can go to the one force that we know reliably improves quality and lowers costs and it's called competition. The health insurance market has never been competitive. It was crony capitalism, the way this bill was written between the health insurance companies trying to protect their franchises and big government.
ROUNDS: I think the Republican majority now has an opportunity to show that we can actually govern. That means getting results. It means you go back in and you take up on ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act section by section--
Q: Dismantling healthcare is a priority? You don't think that's going to add to the dysfunction of Congress, though?
ROUNDS: I think there are bits and pieces of it. You start out with section by section and you do it in such a fashion that you pick those items which have to be fixed. You start out, look, there's a section in it, the independent payment advisory board, which needs to be eliminated in my opinion. The medical devices tax that are there right now has to be taken apart. So I think there are pieces in there which Republicans and Democrats alike recognize have got to be fixed.
WALKER: No. From our standpoint, we did something unique, unlike just about any other state in the country. For the first time ever, not a person in our state is on a waiting list for people living in poverty. They all have access to healthcare through Medicaid, but those living above it are transitioned into the marketplace and we don't put our taxpayers at risk. States that have taken the Medicaid expansion are betting on the fact that the Congress and the president are going to magically somehow come up with new money. They haven't paid that money for Medicaid even to the states as we speak.
CHRISTIE: Of course we do. The CDC protocols have been a moving target. It was my conclusion we need to do this to protect the public health. Governor Cuomo [of NY] agreed. And now, Mayor Emanuel [of Chicago] agrees. I think the CDC eventually will come around to our point of view.
Q: The NIH says it's not good science to quarantine people when they're not symptomatic because they can't spread the disease in those situations.
CHRISTIE: They're counting on a voluntary system with folks who may or may not comply. When you're dealing with something as serious as this that we can count on a voluntary system. This is government's job. If anything else, the government job is to protect safety and health of our citizens. And so, we've taken this action and I absolutely have no second thoughts about it.
CHRISTIE: No, I'm really not, because I believe that folks who want to take that step and are willing to volunteer also understand that it's in their interest and the public health interest to have a 21-day period thereafter if they've been directed expose to people with the virus. Gov. Cuomo [D-NY] and I agree on this. I think this will become a national policy sooner rather than later.
CRUZ: There were, no doubt, mistakes that were made up and down the line. But the biggest mistake that continues to be made is now, we continue to allow open commercial air flights from countries that have been stricken by Ebola. We have got upwards of 150 people a day coming from countries with live, active Ebola outbreaks. For over two weeks, I have been calling on the administration to take the commonsense stand of suspending commercial air travel out of these countries until we get the air travel under control. And for whatever reason, the Obama White House doesn't want to do so.
Q: What mistakes were made?
CRUZ: Throughout this process, there have been mistakes. And listen, dealing with a virus epidemic is a learning process with very high stakes. And so we can't afford mistakes. But the best thing to do is to minimize the initial contact with Ebola.
Previously, Perry had called for stepped-up screenings at points of entry to the United States. Perry had shied away from calling for a full-on travel ban, though that was something other Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, have been urging.
Perry and Obama spoke on the phone on Thursday. Obama has told reporters that he still wasn't supporting a travel ban at this point, though he didn't have a "philosophical objection" to it and could change his mind.
This Ebola briefing comes after Obama tapped a "czar" to spearhead a response to the outbreak of the disease, at least three cases of which have appeared in Texas.
But about the spread of Ebola throughout Africa: We're cutting the CDC's budget, the NIH budget. We're taking the military budget under sequestration cuts down to the smallest Army since 1940.
DR. BEN CARSON (ON TAPE): Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it was never about health care, it was about control.
Q: People who have health care now who didn't have it before, I suspect would disagree strongly.
CARSON: Recognize what I said, "in a way." In a way, anything is slavery that robs you of your ability to control your own life. And when you take the most important thing that you have, which is your health care, and you put that in the hands of government bureaucrats, I think you have done the wrong thing. This is not what America is about. Do I believe in health care for everybody? Absolutely. But I think there are much better ways to get there, which leave the care in the hands of patients and of doctors.
SANTORUM: I think it's still among Republicans. We have half-a-billion dollars wasted by the federal government on setting up four exchanges that have failed on the state level, with more that are going to fail. I mean, this still is a big problem for our country. And so what Republicans need to do is talk about what they would do. Whether you want to call it fixing it, whether you want to call replacing it, I don't think that's as important as saying, "here is the vision for how we can create a better health care system."
EMANUEL: I was chief of staff. I was charged with trying to produce a health care bill that hadn't been done in 100 years. And I will say, it happened.
Q: When the ObamaCare website wasn't working properly, did you want to be in Washington trying to fix it?
EMANUEL: You gotta be kidding. You get a freebie question for the ridiculousness of that question.
Q: I was asking about your competitive instinct. You say you like to fix things.
EMANUEL: That goes down as one of the more intriguing questions I have ever had. Did I wish I was in Washington to fix a website? Let me answer that. I have a single-word answer. No. Please do not edit out the sarcasm of that answer.
Q: Don't worry, it is staying.
EMANUEL: I don't want it to be missed on your readers.
RICK SANTORUM: Well, it was the issue in 2010 that caused us to have the Tea Party revolution. It was all around the issue of health care. And this election is going to be all around the issue of health care. And they are two great elections for Republicans. 2012 was not about health care.
Q: Missed opportunity now getting back politically?
SANTORUM: You know, that's the area that really was my strength. I was the first person that introduced health savings accounts, and the Congress worked on Medicare and Medicaid reform when I was there. I felt like we had the opportunity to really focus on that: Look at what ObamaCare is really doing. It's driving up costs right now. I think you're going to see these numbers not be as encouraging as the administration has pointed out.
RICK SANTORUM: Well, it was the issue in 2010 that caused us to have the Tea Party revolution. It was all around the issue of health care. And this election is going to be all around the issue of health care. And they are two great elections for Republicans. 2012 was not about health care.
Q: Missed opportunity now getting back politically?
SANTORUM: You know, that's the area that really was my strength. I was the first person that introduced health savings accounts, and the Congress worked on Medicare and Medicaid reform when I was there. I felt like we had the opportunity to really focus on that: Look at what ObamaCare is really doing. It's driving up costs right now. I think you're going to see these numbers not be as encouraging as the administration has pointed out.
CRUZ: If enough Congressional Democrats realize they either stand with ObamaCare and lose, or they listen to the American people and have a chance at staying in office, that's the one scenario we could do it in 2015. If not, we'll do it in 2017.
Q: So you honestly think there's a chance that you can get ObamaCare repealed, every word, as you say?
CRUZ: Every single word.
Q: With Obama in the White House?
CRUZ: You know, what's funny is the media treats that as a bizarre proposition.
Q: Well, it is.
CRUZ: It is the most unpopular law in the country. Millions of people have lost their jobs, have lost their health care, have been forced into part-time work, have their premiums skyrocketing. And right now, Washington isn't listening to those people. That's how we win elections and that's also how we repeal ObamaCare.
O'MALLEY: With any new program, there are always problems. But the goal is to cover more people so that we can improve the wellness of our people and not have the constantly escalating costs of health care.
Q: So is this thing going to work?
O'MALLEY: Oh, it's going much better. And it will continue to improve. Look, the larger battle is to bring down the cost of health care which is keeping us from being a more productive country. The perceptions of the Affordable Care Act will greatly change once the enrollment period comes to close by the end of March. By the end of March, you will see most states hitting their goals, you'll see our country having extended health care with more people. And all of those that have been scared and frightened that somehow something is going to happen to their health care will realize that those scare tactics were not true, that those were just falsehoods pedaled by the ideological right.
CRUZ: In terms of whether we should have stood and fought on ObamaCare, I think the proof is in the pudding. Millions of people across the country have seen why we were standing and fighting because ObamaCare is a disaster. Five million Americans all across this country had their health insurance canceled because of ObamaCare. [Obama should] look in the camera say, "I'm sorry. I told you if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it. I told you if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor and that wasn't true." But then, here is the real kicker, if you are really sorry, you actually do something to fix the problem. The pattern we've seen over and over again with this president is he says he's sorry, expresses outrage then doesn't fix the problem, he keeps doing it over and over.
RUBIO: Well, here is the distinguishing factor. Under ObamaCare, when you turn Medicaid over to the states what you're saying to them is the money will be available up front for the expansion for a few years, then the money will go away but you get stuck with the unfunded liability. I'm not saying we should do that. I'm actually saying that what we should do is take the existing federal funding that we use for some of these programs, and we're still working through which ones those should be, collapse them in to one central federal agency that would then transfer that money to fund innovative state programs that address the same issues. But it would be funded, it wouldn't be something where states are told you get the money for a few years then we'll back away. And it should be revenue neutral.
O'MALLEY: This complex I.T. challenge had ups and downs every step of the way. There were lots of cautionary lights, lots of red lights, but there were also green lights. This was a very complicated endeavor. But the bottom line is that we are more than half way to our enrollment goal now in Maryland.
Q: Are you going to meet your goal?
O'MALLEY: I think we are going to make our goal. Right now, we're at about 180,000 people who we've enrolled. Our goal is 260,000. So that Web site is now functional for most citizens. This is an example of good week/bad week. The Washington Post called our health care reforms, in terms of our Medicaid waiver, the most significant grab-the-bull-by-the-horns in terms of controlling health care costs that has happened in our nation in 50 years. But the Web site, we squibbed the kickoff. But we're making it better.
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| 2016 Presidential contenders on Health Care: | |||
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Republicans:
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX) Carly Fiorina(CA) Gov.John Kasich(OH) Sen.Marco Rubio(FL) Donald Trump(NY) |
Democrats:
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY) Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT) 2016 Third Party Candidates: Roseanne Barr(PF-HI) Robert Steele(L-NY) Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA) | ||
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