TODAY SHOW – NBC-TV News (7AM EST)
MATT LAUER (ANCHOR): Now to Decision 2008. Health care, of course, is one of the top issues that
voters are worried about. The leading Democratic candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton, says she has a new plan to fix it. It’s a touchy subject that she’s taken on before with disastrous results. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell’s here with a look at all of this.
Andrea, good morning to you.
ANDREA MITCHELL (REPORTER): Good morning to you, Matt. Well, Hillary Clinton is the last of the leading Democrats to announce a health care plan, and it is a subject on which she can claim years of experience, both good and bad.
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, 2008 Presidential Candidate): (From file footage) They like being able to exclude people from coverage because the more they can exclude, the more money they can make.
I believe everyone, every man, woman and child, should have quality, affordable health care in America.
MITCHELL: Thirteen years after her husband designated her to take on health care in America…
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: (From file footage) I am grateful that Hillary has agreed to chair this task force.
MITCHELL: …on Monday, now a Democratic candidate for president, Senator Clinton announced a new plan to once again try to cover the uninsured and lower the cost of health care for all Americans.
Sen. CLINTON: While I was disappointed by what happened in 1994, I did not give up. I continued the fight.
MITCHELL: This time, Clinton is emphasizing consumer choice, saying people can keep their existing coverage, choose an expanded plan, or choose a less expensive Medicare-style public plan. She also focuses on the private sector to help employees.
Mr. CHUCK TODD (NBC News Political Director): It seems that the one big lesson that Clinton took from ’93 is to try to be a little more incremental.
Sen. CLINTON: (From file footage) Americans can no longer wait for health care reform.
MITCHELL: The former first lady was attacked before Congress 13 years ago when she promoted her ambitious plan, nicknamed “Hillary-care.” While polls show health care is a priority for Democratic voters, the issue is a complicated one for the Clinton campaign.
Mr. TODD: It is a double-edged sword for Clinton because on one hand it brings up a political defeat, something that isn’t one of her proudest moments. On the other hand, it underscores this idea that she has experience.
Senator BARACK OBAMA: I will sign my universal health care plan into law by the end of my first term.
MITCHELL: Obama said her plan is similar to one he has already unveiled. Other opponents were quick to criticize Clinton’s failures of the past.
SENATOR CHRIS DODD: History’s important.
MR. JOHN EDWARDS (Democrat, 2008 Presidential Candidate): Senator Clinton believes that you need to give drug companies and insurance companies and their lobbyists a seat at the table. I believe if you give them a seat at the table, they’ll eat all the food.
MITCHELL: But the real problem for Clinton may not be in the Democratic primary; instead, if she wins the nomination, it will be selling the plan in a general election campaign.
MR. RUDY GIULIANI (Republican, 2008 Presidential Candidate): This is essentially the Michael Moore/Hillary Clinton approach.
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Republican, 2008 Presidential Candidate): Version 2.0 is not likely to have any more success than 1.0. Hillary-care continues to be bad medicine.
MITCHELL: Now, Clinton would partly pay for the plan by rolling back much of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. But there will still be critics on both sides, saying it does either too much or too little. Matt?
LAUER: Andrea Mitchell, thank you very much. Senator Hillary Clinton is in Washington this morning. Senator, good morning to you.
Sen. CLINTON: Good morning, Matt.
LAUER: You talk a lot about the scars you have from 1993 and your efforts to reform health care back then, but this plan’s only been out there for 24 hours and already critics are saying that this in some ways is the kind of plan that you would have rejected back in 1993. How do you respond to that?
Sen. CLINTON: Well, I think it’s absolutely the case that I’ve learned a lot in the last 15 years. I think America has. I think we all understand that ignoring the problems don’t make them better. We have more uninsured people, millions more that are under-insured. We’re losing jobs because of the global competitive pressures on American business. And so I think it’s important that you take a new assessment, and that’s what I’ve done. I’ve worked hard to, you know, listen to a lot of people, learn from what we tried to do and were not successful in doing before.
LAUER: But in avoiding those battles this time around, Senator, have you watered down reform?
Sen. CLINTON: No, I think what we’ve done is to come up with a practical approach that will actually move us and achieve universal coverage but without disruption. If you like your health insurance, you like your doctor, you like your hospital, nothing will change. But if you’re among the 47 million uninsured or millions who think they should get a better deal for what they’re paying, you will now have the same choices that members of Congress have. And I think that’s a significant move based on what we think will work better.
LAUER: Let me read you something: Jamie Court, who’s the president for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, told Newsweek magazine. He said, quote, “There’s nobody in this race with her knowledge to make health care available to every American at a cheaper cost, but it would take going after the insurance industry that’s funding her candidacy.” In fact, some of your competitors have said you’ve taken more money from the insurance industry than any other candidate. So the question is, is there a conflict looming on the horizon? Are you losing some leverage in asking these insurance companies to get on board and make tough choices?
Sen. CLINTON: Well, I don’t think so because I believe in reality-based politics. And the fact is that my plan is very tough on requiring insurance companies to guarantee insurance to everyone, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. They’re going to have to change the way they do business, and I believe that they can and they will. We’ll either work with them or we will make the case based on all of the rest of us that we cannot continue on the path we’re on. So I think that this system, which builds on what works in America but fixes what’s wrong, is exactly what is prescribed, and I’m thrilled to have the positive responses I’ve been receiving from so many groups, physicians, nurses, hospitals…
LAUER: Right.
Sen. CLINTON: …the people who actually deliver the care. The insurance industry is not going to nominate me for woman of the year, because I’ve always been tough on what I think are practices that undermine the quality and cost of health care. But I think that they will recognize that the time has come. We cannot continue on the path we’re on.
LAUER: Right.
Sen. CLINTON: We are undermining our health care system and, frankly, undermining our health.
LAUER: A couple other questions that your campaign’s been dealing with lately. Let me talk about Norman Hsu. He’s in jail right now on — apparently he had a 15-year outstanding warrant. Your campaign returned an $850,000 contribution from him. Just so people understand, he’s a bundler. That’s not his
money. This comes from 260 individual donors. The question is, you know, there are a lot of red flags here — what happened? The New York Times (The New York Times Editorial Sept. 12, 2007) writes this: “This hurried — but not hurried enough — giveback, one of the largest on record, lays bare again how easily campaign professionals can allow greed to trump healthy skepticism and good sense when supporters like Mr. Hsu arrive on the scene with eye-popping contributions.”
How do you respond?
Sen. CLINTON: Well, obviously, everyone was taken aback, to say the least, not only the dozens of candidates who were the beneficiaries of contributions but the people who actually gave him money for investments. And it was a — it was a terrible and rude awakening. The fact is, we need to move toward public financing. I’ve been saying that for years. I will strongly support that as president. And my campaign has a good system for checking. This missed — this was missed. It was missed by everyone who looked, so…
LAUER: So when your campaign returned the money, they said you’re operating under an abundance of caution. Are you saying there wasn’t that same abundance of caution when the check arrived?
Sen. CLINTON: Well, yes, of course. We always check everything and check every person. But, you know, it wasn’t just my campaign. Unfortunately, this goes back several years and the databases that were used didn’t have this information. As soon as people found out, we all took action.
LAUER: Senator Hillary Clinton joining us from Washington this morning. Senator, thanks for your time. I appreciate it.
Sen. CLINTON: Good to talk to you, Matt.
