Bill Richardson vs. Mike Huckabee
Michelle Malsbury, BSBM, MM
August 01, 2007
Bill Richardson (D-NM) and Mike Huckabee (R-AR) are both running for President of the United States in 2008. Both men are considered second tier by most watching the fray. On July 30, 2007 Wolf Blitzer from CNN News Situation Room interviewed both Bill Richardson and Mike Huckabee on the topics of Iraq, healthcare, and immigration. Some of their comments are provided below and where those comments required some expansion in order to provide complete views information has been added from each mans web site.
On the topic of Iraq Bill Richardson said he favored bringing our troops home before year end. Mr. Richardson added that if this is not done when he became president he would bring the troops home in the first six months he was in office. He would redirect the monies now being spent on this war into improving education, healthcare, and security at home.
Mike Huckabee felt that bringing the troops home prior to winning would only serve to destabilize that region more than it already is. Mr. Huckabee said he was focused on winning the war in Iraq all though he never expounded on what winning might mean in exact terms. Mike Huckabee pointed out that he felt there might be dire and serious consequences strategically and on a humanitarian level if we were to leave Iraq at this time.
Bill Richardson said that it was experts that got the United States into this war with Iraq and he believes that the United States troops are now targets for the Iraqi’s and insurgents. He stated that some 61% of the Iraqi’s shoot US soldiers because we lost sight of the fight against Al Qaeda and are unsure who is enemy or friend there. Bill Richardson said that Al Qaeda is in Iraq because we are seen as occupiers there and because of the current US policy in that region which favors Sunni over the Shia. Mr. Richardson said that each month this mounting instability adds another 100 dead troops and more than 25,000 injured beyond the ability to actively pursue duty, and this is just on the US side. His idea is that we can more adequately fight terrorism if we engage our neighbors on an international level which means we will need to change our current policies and leave.
Mike Huckabee said that 1,400 years of fighting in the Middle East cannot be solved in 14 months and maybe not in 14 years. Therefore, Mike Huckabee wants to allow General Petraus until September and perhaps beyond to determine if this troop surge is working. Mr. Huckabee believes this surge may bring about some level of security and stability and is something that the US does not want to have to redo if we decide to prematurely bring our troops home. Once the United States has achieved stability in that region Mike Huckabee supports a regional summit that should involve Iraq and their neighbors in broader security issues and stabilization of their various states.
On the topic of healthcare Bill Richardson wants healthcare for ALL Americans. He said that his plan would allow working families and small businesses to purchase the same federal insurance that federal employees now have. People 55 or older would be absorbed into Medicare. All senior and disabled persons would use the Medicare insurance. Bill Richardson’s plans allow low income families to use Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Coverage. Mr. Richardson’s plan would allow tax credits based on income to help families to buy this coverage and employers would be encouraged to contribute to healthcare for their employees.
Mike Huckabee is against the government controlling healthcare. He feels that more emphasis needs to be placed on prevention than on the cures. Mr. Huckabee wants the private sector to help lower the rising costs of healthcare. He feels this will improve the free market and increase competition targeted at improving the overall quality of healthcare. Mike Huckabee would expand the healthcare savings accounts to everyone and not just those people with higher deductions. Low income families would get tax credits that would help them to pay for their coverage.
Bill Richardson wants to secure our borders and penalize employers of illegal aliens working in the United States. Mike Huckabee agrees and adds that the United States needs to increase the number of border patrol agents to deter potential illegals from entering our borders along with a tamper proof identification system that can help ICE to track people within our borders better than we now do.
For more information about either candidate and their various stances on the issues that are of import please visit http://www.richardsonforpresident.com or http://mikehuckabee.com .
On the topic of Iraq Bill Richardson said he favored bringing our troops home before year end. Mr. Richardson added that if this is not done when he became president he would bring the troops home in the first six months he was in office. He would redirect the monies now being spent on this war into improving education, healthcare, and security at home.
Mike Huckabee felt that bringing the troops home prior to winning would only serve to destabilize that region more than it already is. Mr. Huckabee said he was focused on winning the war in Iraq all though he never expounded on what winning might mean in exact terms. Mike Huckabee pointed out that he felt there might be dire and serious consequences strategically and on a humanitarian level if we were to leave Iraq at this time.
Bill Richardson said that it was experts that got the United States into this war with Iraq and he believes that the United States troops are now targets for the Iraqi’s and insurgents. He stated that some 61% of the Iraqi’s shoot US soldiers because we lost sight of the fight against Al Qaeda and are unsure who is enemy or friend there. Bill Richardson said that Al Qaeda is in Iraq because we are seen as occupiers there and because of the current US policy in that region which favors Sunni over the Shia. Mr. Richardson said that each month this mounting instability adds another 100 dead troops and more than 25,000 injured beyond the ability to actively pursue duty, and this is just on the US side. His idea is that we can more adequately fight terrorism if we engage our neighbors on an international level which means we will need to change our current policies and leave.
Mike Huckabee said that 1,400 years of fighting in the Middle East cannot be solved in 14 months and maybe not in 14 years. Therefore, Mike Huckabee wants to allow General Petraus until September and perhaps beyond to determine if this troop surge is working. Mr. Huckabee believes this surge may bring about some level of security and stability and is something that the US does not want to have to redo if we decide to prematurely bring our troops home. Once the United States has achieved stability in that region Mike Huckabee supports a regional summit that should involve Iraq and their neighbors in broader security issues and stabilization of their various states.
On the topic of healthcare Bill Richardson wants healthcare for ALL Americans. He said that his plan would allow working families and small businesses to purchase the same federal insurance that federal employees now have. People 55 or older would be absorbed into Medicare. All senior and disabled persons would use the Medicare insurance. Bill Richardson’s plans allow low income families to use Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Coverage. Mr. Richardson’s plan would allow tax credits based on income to help families to buy this coverage and employers would be encouraged to contribute to healthcare for their employees.
Mike Huckabee is against the government controlling healthcare. He feels that more emphasis needs to be placed on prevention than on the cures. Mr. Huckabee wants the private sector to help lower the rising costs of healthcare. He feels this will improve the free market and increase competition targeted at improving the overall quality of healthcare. Mike Huckabee would expand the healthcare savings accounts to everyone and not just those people with higher deductions. Low income families would get tax credits that would help them to pay for their coverage.
Bill Richardson wants to secure our borders and penalize employers of illegal aliens working in the United States. Mike Huckabee agrees and adds that the United States needs to increase the number of border patrol agents to deter potential illegals from entering our borders along with a tamper proof identification system that can help ICE to track people within our borders better than we now do.
For more information about either candidate and their various stances on the issues that are of import please visit http://www.richardsonforpresident.com or http://mikehuckabee.com .
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