2012 Rhode Island Senate Debate: on Health Care


Barry Hinckley: ObamaCare is an example of government gone wild

Hinckley, who has called for the repeal of President Obama's healthcare plan, was asked if he would keep any part of the plan. "This is a great example of government goes wild. [The senator's] party admitted they didn't know what was in it before they voted for it," said Hinckley, who proposed fixing problems with the system individually, instead of with a massive bureaucracy. When asked when Rhode Islanders would see reduced healthcare costs under Obama's plan, Whitehouse said he wasn't sure.
Source: WPRI Eyewitness News on 2012 R.I. Senate debate Oct 23, 2012

Barry Hinckley: Voucher program provides Medicare choice

The moderator asked about the growing cost of Medicaid and Medicare. Whitehouse pivoted, and said the problem was with the cost of healthcare. "The nation can't continue to spend what it spends on healthcare," said Whitehouse. "It would be a mistake to redefine the problem to say it's just a Medicaid and Medicare cost."

The moderator then asked Hinckley if he would support a voucher program, which would give seniors the option to choose Medicare or a private insurer. "When you walk into a restaurant, do you want one choice or two?" Hinckley asked. "Medicare is going out of business and it's not good for any American. He maintained there needs to be bi-partisan effort to solve the problem. "The Senate won't even debate it, they shoot it down without a debate," he said. "The government has no track record of running things on budget and if you think they're going to run healthcare efficiently, I have another thing to tell you."

Source: WPRI Eyewitness News on 2012 R.I. Senate debate Oct 23, 2012

  • The above quotations are from 2012 R.I. Senate Debate.
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Candidates and political leaders on Health Care:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
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Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
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Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
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GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 04, 2018