In the Republican debate on Thursday, Brett Baier asked Donald Trump about his past statements on health care. "Now, 15 years ago, you called yourself a liberal on health care. You were for a single-payer system, a Canadian-style system. Why were you for that then and why aren't you for it now?"
Baier is right on the facts. In Trump's 2000 book The America We Deserve, he wrote that "The Canadian plan also helps Canadians live longer and healthier than America. ... We need, as a nation, to reexamine the single-payer plan, as many individual states are doing."
Trumps answer to Baier's question should trouble anyone who believes in free market health care reforms.
"As far as single payer, it works in Canada. It works incredibly well in Scotland. It could have worked in a different age, which is the age you're talking about, here."
Really? Let's take these claims one at a time.
First, as IBD has frequently detailed, single payer doesn't work in Canada, unless you consider extreme wait times, and the fact that Canadians often come to the U.S. to get needed care, working. One study found that roughly 41,000 leave Canada in a given year for needed health care.
Patients in Scotland, too, suffer from chronic delays. The Sunday Herald, for example, reported earlier this year that "Scotland's health boards are seeing delays of at least three times the target (emergency room) waiting times of four hours — and one health board recorded a wait of over 24 hours."
If you have cancer, Scotland's single payer definitely doesn't work "incredibly well." As Forbes Avik Roy points out, cancer survival rates in the U.S. are 40% higher than in Scotland.
And Trump's last point that single payer could have worked in the United States "in a different age" makes no sense whatsoever, since Trump supported single payer just 15 years ago.
Does he mean to say that it would have worked in 2000, but won't work in 2015? If so, how come? ..... < snip >
Did she also talk about her losing senate campaign, her stint as a McCain advisor, her unsuccessful helming of that tech giant and her shifting positions on major issues?
She appears to be running as VP attack dog and so far is showing that she would kick Dem butts in the VP debate.
A+ at that.
Clearly she won’t be the nominee.
Implosion 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, 4...
She lost to Boxer, why would anyone think she would defeat Hellary? Who wants to take that chance with all that is at stake?
I hope Trump starts asking all the others if they’ll support him if he gets the nomination.
Carly has already said she stands with Kelly. If that ain’t sucking up and being exactly what Trump is talking about, I don’t know what is.
Not impressed with her in terms of presidential candidates.
Sen Cruz has been the only candidate fighting the DC cartel since his senate victory. Where has icarly been?
This looks like more wishful thinking.
Those who are afraid of Trump keep grabbing at straws and wanting him to go away.
Donald Trump is exactly the leadership this country needs to become great again.
She’s a female and I never had no luck with females so I will ignore Truth to try to make some females like me......
Words do not match this gals actions. Watch out, she is dangerous and in my opinion, incompetent.
TRUMP creates wealth;
CARLY: creates poverty.
During Carly’s tenure at HP, the stock lost HALF its value.
Investors lost BILLIONS.
They fired her, the stock went up.
So, TO RECAP... She got a job through affirmative action, got fired, and she has ovaries...
Why should she be president?
isn’t one affirmative-action president enough?
Carly Fiorina stood with Republican Establishment AGAINST CRUZ in 2013 government shutdown
Show me the poll, IBD. Otherwise consider yourself another just another nose-honking passenger in the MSM clown car.
I don’t understand why so many Freepers give Trump a complete pass on his leftist past, but will not do the same for Fiorina. Likely, neither would govern as a conservative. Let’s move on and get behind Ted Cruz, without question, the best candidate of all.
there is a long time to go and Carly lacks the fuel to propel the vehicle
Carly doesn’t have a natural constituency unlike Sarah Palin or that congress woman from minnesota? or was it wisconsin?
Flash in the pan comes to mind except there was no flash, merely an in the pan
He doesn’t care about Carley. It’s all about that old white woman—Jeb