The Arkansas Times has the writeup and video:
Halter said 1) on card check. Compromise legislation is in the works, which he hasn’t seen, but which includes elements he favors – accelerated union elections; protection of workers against undue pressure; exemptions for small businesses; 2) health care. He said the words “public option” had come to mean things good and bad on both sides of the debate. He said he had health care ideas – emphasis on preventive medicine, better use of technology to cut costs, for example. Most significantly, he mentioned interest in a program that would allow a voluntary buy-in to Medicare, a voluntary public option of a sort. He defended his support by labor unions, which represent working people, and cited thousands of small contributors in the beginning hours of his campaign by contrast with major corporate PAC contributions. He was non-commital on the cap-and-trade legislation currently before the Senate.
While the Halter campaign promises more details on these issues as the campaign rolls out, Greg Sargent got a Halter to offer more specifics on health care:
In an interview with me just now, Halter made it official: He fully supports the public option, and expects it to be an issue in the campaign.
Asked directly if he supported a public plan that would give folks access to Medicare or something like it, Halter answered: “Yes.”
“If you give individuals the opportuinity to voluntarily buy into a system like Medicare, there is broad support for that,” Halter said.
Asked directly whether he’d back a reconciliation vote on the public option — and the use of reconciliation in general to pass reform, which Lincoln has hedged on — Halter answered Yes on both counts.
“Reconciliation has been used multiple times not just on tax bills but on health bills,” he said.
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