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| Rove blasts health care fixes at college |
By: SUZANNE ROOK, Managing Editor
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Posted: Friday, October 2, 2009 11:15 pm
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NORTHFIELD — Who knew Karl Rove had a sense of humor?
In a Thursday night speech at St. Olaf College, Rove, a GOP strategist largely credited as the architect of President George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 runs to the White House, took jabs at the current administration while garnering more than a few laughs, particularly by poking fun at his Scandinavian heritage.
Rove’s address focused largely on healthcare reform and how the Democrats’ plan would impact the country and its residents.
According to Rove, the plan currently backed by Democratic leaders isn’t going to work, will be too expensive and add to the already burgeoning deficit.
He criticized Medicaid, saying it doesn’t allow participants to select their physicians and pays participating doctors less than private insurers, a system which increases costs to the insured. He also advocated for an end to what he called “frivolous lawsuits,” adding that “they are costing us money and driving good docs out of business.”
He agreed that the current healthcare system needs fixing and offered several ideas on how to make the repairs, including offering the same tax credits to the self-insured as are given corporations, allowing residents to go out of state to seek health insurance and permitting tax-free savings for out-of-pocket medical expenses.
“If we get this wrong,” he said of potential reform, “we’ll have to live with the consequences for decades.”
Rove, a political analyst and frequent contributor for Fox News, “Newsweek” magazine and “The Wall Street Journal,” also took written questions from the audience.
Questions ranged from Rove’s belief that the United States is less safe under the Obama administration, his purported role in the disclosure of Valerie Plame as a CIA operative to the contested 2000 presidential election and Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s viability as a 2012 presidential candidate.
Of Pawlenty, Rove said: “Tim’s smart, thoughtful, thinks outside the box. He has a lot of new ideas.” But, he added, that between now and the 2012 presidential primaries, Pawlenty will have to roll up his sleeves and help other Republican candidates get elected if he wants a shot at the White House.
“In 2005 who was talking about Barack Obama?” he asked.
— Suzanne Rook is the managing editor and covers education. She can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113.
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