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Tommy Thompson
Transcript of Tommy Thompson during the third Republican presidential primary debate in New Hampshire (2008 election) (June 05 2007)
BLITZER: Now, let me bring in Governor Thompson. Go ahead, same question to you: If General Petraeus says it's not working in September, what should the U. S. do then? TOMMY THOMPSON, FORMER HHS SECRETARY: The first thing the president should do is demand the al-Maliki government to vote as to whether or not they want the United States to stay in Iraq. We've been there four years. Give the government the responsibility of voting. If they vote 'yes,' how are they going to help us win this war? If they vote 'no,' we should redeploy our forces outside. Secondly, there are 18 territories in Iraq, geographically defined. Those 18 territories, just like 50 states in America, should elect their state leaders. And if they do so, the Shiites will elect Shiites, Sunnis will elect Sunnis, Kurds will elect Kurds. And you know something? People will go to those particular territories, and you get rid of this civil war internecine. Number three. . .
BLITZER: All right. . .
THOMPSON: . . . I would like to have the oil revenue proceeds -- very quickly -- oil revenue proceeds split: one-third to the federal government, one-third to the states, and one-third to every man, woman and child. And that will get everybody a stake in their country.
BLITZER: Governor Thompson, is there a need for another Thompson in this race? (LAUGHTER) THOMPSON: I think that anybody with a Thompson name should get involved if they want to get involved. It's a great name. He's a great candidate. And I think it will help the Republican Party to have him in. I just would like to say that if you're talking about conservatism -- and that's what you're talking about -- there isn't a candidate on either side of the aisle that has had as many vetoes as I have. Nobody has reduced taxes as much as I have. And if you're talking about a reliable conservative, it is this Thompson, Tommy Thompson, not the other, that's the conservative. (LAUGHTER) Governor Thompson, I'd like to know, seeing as how you were a member of President Bush's Cabinet as health and human services secretary, how would you use George W. Bush in your administration? THOMPSON: I certainly would not send him to the United Nations. (LAUGHTER) I believe George W. Bush has tremendous characteristics. He's very honest. He's very straightforward. I would put him out on a lecture series, talking to the youth of America about honesty, integrity, perseverance, passion, and serving the public. George W. Bush believes very much in public service, as does his father, as does his brothers, as does his mother. I think he could be a wonderful spokesperson, making sure that young people realize that public service is a very noble cause and something that young people should aspire to, like all the young people here on this campus should also have the opportunity to serve in public life. (APPLAUSE) BLITZER: I just want to do a quick 'yes' or 'no. ' And I'm going to go down the rest of the group and let everybody just tell me 'yes' or 'no': Would you pardon Scooter Libby? THOMPSON: Bill Clinton committed perjury at a grand jury, lost his law license. Scooter Libby got 30 months. To me, it's not fair at all. But I would make sure the appeal was done properly, and then I would examine the record.
'Millions of Americans are dissatisfied with the current state of our health-care system, and U.S. employers are at a disadvantage due to the high cost of health insurance. What would you do to fix the health-care system? And would you support implementing a single-payer system, in which the government acts as the insurer in order to save enough money to cover the millions of uninsured and to lower premiums for the rest of the U.S. population?' Governor Thompson, let's have you weigh in on that.
THOMPSON: You know, I've been here for two debates. We never had one question on health care. Thank that person for talking about health care. Number one, we spend $2 trillion on health care. That's 16 percent of the gross national product. Ninety-three percent of the cost of health care goes into waiting until after you become sick. Only 7 percent of the money is used to keep you well in the first place. We got to completely transform the health care system, make it a wellness system and make it a prevention system. Secondly, we have 125 million Americans that have one or more chronic illnesses. In order to change this, we have to educate the American people about tobacco, about diabetes, about cardiovascular and about obesity. You do that, you'll be able to change health care. The third thing, 25 percent of Americans use two-thirds of the cost of health care. If you manage those diseases, you can reduce that down to 50 percent and save lots of money. Fourth, information technology, electronic medical record, a patient bill of rights and be able to have e-prescribing. And if you do that, you're going to be able to save billions of dollars. If you just go paperless, ladies and gentlemen, you will save 10 percent of the cost of health care. (APPLAUSE) BLITZER: Thank you, Governor, very much.
BLITZER: The question is, what's President Bush's biggest mistake over these past several years? THOMPSON: Because we went to Washington to change Washington, Washington changed us. We didn't come up with new ideas. We got to transform health care. We got to wind down the war in Iraq. We got to make sure that we really are conservatives. If we're going to spend money like as foolishly and as stupidly as the Democrats, the voters are going to vote for the professional spender, the Democrat, not the amateur spender, the Republican. (APPLAUSE)
Sam Brownback
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