The highlight of the evening was when the D17 Democratic candidates for the Legislature were invited to give campaign updates and speak on their ideas/positions on healthcare.
There was an Arizona Education Association event at the same time as this meeting, so not all candidates were present or were present for only part of the meeting. House candidate Angie Crouse and current House member and Senate candidate Meg Burton Cahill couldn't make it due to the conflict, but had representatives at the meeting. CD5 Congressional candidate Harry Mitchell was also at the AEA meeting.
House candidate David Schapira was selected by lot to speak first. For his campaign update he let us know that he is knocking on 1000 doors per month and if he hasn't been out walking in your precinct yet, he soon will be. He also announced that he has received the endorsements of County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and State Rep. Robert Meza.
On healthcare, he supports some type of universal health care, perhaps along the line of the recently-passed Massachusetts model. He cited the statistics that 1 in 5 Arizonans and 1 in 8 children in Arizona don't have health care coverage, and believes that is it time for Arizona to "not be last" among the states in this area .
He also noted that if something doesn't get through the Republican-controlled legislature, a ballot initiative might be necessary.
Current Senator and candidate for the House Ed Ableser spoke next. In his campaign update, he advised he is also out walking a lot of neighborhoods. He also mentioned that he took part in a Legislative Council concerning the measures submitted for the ballot in November.
Right now, it looks as if the Protect Marriage Arizona (anti-same sex marriage and anti-unmarried couples of any gender combination) initiative won't make it to the ballot because it tries to do too many things. Under AZ law, ballot initiatives can address only one issue at a time.
Another measure, the public smoking partial ban backed by the tobacco industry, has a problem too. One of sloppiness. Apparently, whoever wrote the text of it forgot to put in an enactment clause; even if it passes, there's no mechanism for it to become law.
Regarding healthcare, he wants to lower income threshold for AHCCCS eligibility, stating that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. If not purely univeral health care, his idea is close enough. He also thinks that providing tax credits for small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees would greatly help increase coverage in AZ.
Rhett Wilson, the last candidate for the House that was present, spoke next. He too has been out walking precincts, 60+ so far and counting.
As with the other candidates, he also supports some kind of universal health care, but he believes there is a greater issue here than simple lack of coverage issues. He believes the main culprit in the health care crisis in the US is the inordinate influence wielded by Big Pharma and Big Insurance over our government and our lives. He used the phrase "pillaging the American economy."
Edit to add observation: In case you might Rhett was spouting some overblown but meaningless rhetoric, on Tuesday, the US Senate approved a bill that would bar the use of "federal funds from being used to confiscate prescription drugs from Canada." The bill passed 68 - 32. One of the 32? Longtime tool of Big Pharma, Arizona's own Senator Jon Kyl. Thanks to AZCongressWatch for the heads up on the story.
Dana Kennedy of the Crouse for the House campaign gave a very brief update, announcing that Angie Crouse has received the endorsements/approvals of the AFL/CIO, AFSCME, and the Arizona Education Association.
Personal note: It was nice to see a candidate (Wilson) staking out some territory without attacking the other candidates. Hope the civility keeps up.
Personal note 2: While I will have no problem supporting any 2 of the 4 House candidates in the general election, I still have no clue as to who I am going to vote for in the primary. They are all solid, hard-working candidates who would be great representatives of LD17 in the Lege if elected.
All in all, it was a good, informative evening.
Next meeting: August 1st at 7 p.m.
Other upcoming events of interest:
July 24th, Candidate Forum hosted by the East Valley Tribune, Tempe City Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m. (info courtesy Rhett Wilson's website)
July 26th, Candidate Forum hosted by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission, ASU's Old Main building in the Carson Ballroom, 6 - 8 p.m.
All of the campaigns are looking for volunteers for phonebanking and precinct walks. Contact any that you are interested in helping.
1 comment:
I agree. And I agree with his point about Big Pharma and Big Insurance, too.
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