Iowa Public Television

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  Program: Iowa Press #3506
  Broadcast Date: Oct. 12, 2007
  

• Collection: Iowa Press: The Presidential Candidates

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Sen. John McCain says the national debt is mainly due to 'the dramatic expansion of entitlement programs. He goes on to talk more about health insurance issues.

This interview took place on October 12, 2007, at Iowa Public Television.

www.iptv.org/campaign08

Yepsen: Senator, I want to ask about you national debt. It's related to health care. Comptroller general says it's headed through the roof. What specific steps would you take to curb the national debt?

McCain: The reason why we have the national debt at the level we have is because of spending, and also the dramatic expansion of entitlement programs without paying for them.

Now, I'm a guy that voted against the Medicare prescription drug bill. Why? Because it was eight hundred to a trillion dollars of unfunded liability that our kids are going to have to pay for. And by the way, you know what? You're paying for my drugs. Do you know that? Don't you think I've voted enough pay raises for myself that I can pay for my own? I mean every time we have an entitlement program, even if it's worthy, we expand it and we're not going to pay for it.

On the s-chip; I know what public opinion is about the s-chip. Do you know how we're supposed to be paying for the s-chip program, the additional $35 billion that they want? Probably a lot of Americans don't know. A dollar increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes.

Now, so we're going to take care of children's health, but we're encouraging everybody to smoke! I mean 22 million new smokers we need to pay for this program?

Yepsen: You describe the problem with Medicare as an entitlement that's -- but what do you do now? I mean it's growing. Are you going to raise some taxes? Are you going to cut the benefit? How do you deal with it?

McCain: With competition in these areas and to make sure that we can implement these reforms, it will bring down costs. And part of that will be competition, whether it be for insurance companies competing for different categories of people, whether it be pharmaceutical companies competing, whether it be -- really one of the important aspects of this is to put more responsibility on the person who is insured.


Right now, as you know, when it's paid for and taken care of, then people are not as responsible as they will be and part of that is a higher co-pay but it's also more of an investment on the part of the person who is the recipient.

And one other thing: with low income people right now who cannot afford health insurance, I'm for giving each individual $2,500, family $5,000 in tax credits. Then they can go out and purchase the health insurance of their choice, and that I think is important. Then they'll be very careful how they invest that $2,500 or $5,000.

Tags:

• economy
• John McCain
• campaign 2008
• politics
• Republicans
• national
• drugs
• pharmacies
• medical
• debt
• health insurance
• healthcare
• health
• smoking
• taxes

Post Date: June 4, 2008