This page is an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College
Colorado 2004
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Proposes tax credit of up to 50 percent for small businesses.
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Supports expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Plan.
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Proposes creation of Voluntary Purchasing Groups
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Supports adoption of a 75 percent tax credit for middle-income workers who
are in between jobs.
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Supports lift on the ban of reimportation prescription drugs.
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Supports an increase of $225 million in funding for rural health centers
to be more accessible.
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Proposes increase in the use of telehealth
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Proposes more programs to prevent diseases *all from (Ensuring 2004).*
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Supports limiting medical malpractice lawsuits by leaving this power to the
states (Couch, Band-Aid 4).
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Supports limiting number of medical malpractice suits.
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Proposes creation of “Medical Courts.”
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Supports Association Health Plans.
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Supports allowing workers to use tax credits to purchase their own insurance
coverage if their employers do not offer it.
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Supports Health Savings Accounts
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Proposes more Community Health Clinics *all from (Straight Talk 2004).*
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Opposes importing prescription drugs (Couch, Band-Aid 4).
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Both he and Salazar affirm the usage of Electronic Medical records.
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Both support protecting Veteran’s healthcare. (see Salazar & Coor proposals)
Everyday millions of Americans struggle to pay for soaring healthcare costs while listening to politician's claims of having plans to fix their predicaments. In the 2004 Colorado Senate race, both candidates are claiming similar results yet taking two contrasting routes towards solutions (Couch, Band-Aid 1). These proposals have made observers question if they are even speaking to the same constituency. With this website we will evaluate both positions on healthcare reform and determine if the candidates are representing the interests of the constituency.
While both candidates would argue that they are substantively acting for all constituent interests by proposing affordable, accessible and quality healthcare plans, these proposals in correlation to Colorado health statistics indicate that only Ken Salazar is doing a good job of representing such interests. That is to say that Pete Coors has appealed primarily to Republican interests, which represents 1,074,336 registered Colorado voters in comparison to the 893,549 registered Democrats (Nearly 2004, 1) by following the Republican mantra of “lawsuit abuse (Couch, Band-Aid 2).” He highlights his descriptive representation technique (Pitkin 1967, 213) by echoing Bush' tort reform and AHP plans (Crummy 2004, 2) yet he has ignored millions of uninsured Americans (Couch, Band-Aid 2).
However Salazar has made considerable strides to represent
the interest of conservatives as well as uninsured Americans. For example,
children currently
make up 165,000 of the uninsured and with Salazar proposal to expand CHP
programs another 100,000 will become insured (Couch, Band-Aid 4). Not to
mention similar proposals for the unemployed, rural Americans, and low-income
people
(Ensuring 2004). He has also appealed to considerable Republican voters by
supporting preserving VA medical benefits and even supports reducing medical
malpractice lawsuits (Ensuring 2004).
See Pledge
© Davidson College, 2004, Department of Political Science, Davidson
College, Davidson, NC 28035
Send comments to Jacquin Gilchrist (Jagilchrist@davidson.edu)
Created: 9/22/2004. Last updated: 10/15/2004.
Political Science 318 - Strategy
and Ethics in Election Campaigns
