Debate
Republican Presidential Debate
January 15, 2000Johnston, Iowa
[Excerpt]
KEYES: We shouldn't have government and other bureaucracies dictating to people who are trying to act responsibly.
But instead, we need to empower them, through programs that voucherize the government system, that give people medical savings accounts, that allow greater choice on the part of individuals and families, allow them to make the decisions that can help us to keep the costs down. And by making better use of our medical dollars, we will then be able to allocate those dollars with priority to the things that families really can't handle for themselves. And that means giving top priority to the kind of long-term care that can have a catastrophic effect on the family budget.
If we take the right approach, people will be armed to keep the costs down, and our medical dollars can be used more effectively to help people meet those needs that they can't meet for themselves.
. . .
KEYES: I think two things are true. First of all, we need to look at the root of this problem. Steve nibbles around the edges a little bit when he talks about the Federal Reserve, but the truth of it is we've had government programs that were aimed at compensating for the fundamental reality that in the course of this century we've restructured our banking system in a way that was insensitive to the needs of the family and independent farmer.
I think we need to take a careful look at the way in which this whole centralized banking system is contrary to the interests of farmers and move in a direction that will restore an element to the banking system that works and is sensitive to the needs, the capital needs of farmers.
And I want to get away from this collectivist bargaining approach, and in a hard-hitting way, a businesslike approach, force other countries to accept our goods as the condition of their entry into American markets. We can't do that at the collectivist, so-called free-trade bargaining table. And that's why I think we ought to withdraw from the WTO.
. . .
KEYES: The Ten Commandments are etched into the walls of the Supreme Court. I find it rather hard to believe that it could be inappropriate to fit them on the walls of our schools.
. . .
But instead, we need to empower them, through programs that voucherize the government system, that give people medical savings accounts, that allow greater choice on the part of individuals and families, allow them to make the decisions that can help us to keep the costs down. And by making better use of our medical dollars, we will then be able to allocate those dollars with priority to the things that families really can't handle for themselves. And that means giving top priority to the kind of long-term care that can have a catastrophic effect on the family budget.
If we take the right approach, people will be armed to keep the costs down, and our medical dollars can be used more effectively to help people meet those needs that they can't meet for themselves.
. . .
KEYES: I think two things are true. First of all, we need to look at the root of this problem. Steve nibbles around the edges a little bit when he talks about the Federal Reserve, but the truth of it is we've had government programs that were aimed at compensating for the fundamental reality that in the course of this century we've restructured our banking system in a way that was insensitive to the needs of the family and independent farmer.
I think we need to take a careful look at the way in which this whole centralized banking system is contrary to the interests of farmers and move in a direction that will restore an element to the banking system that works and is sensitive to the needs, the capital needs of farmers.
And I want to get away from this collectivist bargaining approach, and in a hard-hitting way, a businesslike approach, force other countries to accept our goods as the condition of their entry into American markets. We can't do that at the collectivist, so-called free-trade bargaining table. And that's why I think we ought to withdraw from the WTO.
. . .
KEYES: The Ten Commandments are etched into the walls of the Supreme Court. I find it rather hard to believe that it could be inappropriate to fit them on the walls of our schools.
. . .