Floida Health Insurance * Hillary Clinton Promotes Health-Care

Miami, Florida

Florida Health Insurance Web reports Democratic contenders continue their appeals to everyday voters, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York promotes her health-care ideas on the morning chat shows and through a Webcast tonight. And this seems like econ week for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who plans to outline a set of tax cuts for the middle class during a speech here in Washington this afternoon.
According to a release from his campaign, the proposal would provide $80 billion to $85 billion in tax cuts to workers, older people and homeowners. The full plan is posted on his Web site. At Nasdaq in New York yesterday, he criticized Wall Street executives for not doing enough to protect middle-class interests.
Meanwhile, Senator Clinton will not only hold a Webcast tonight to take questions about her health care plan, she is also is putting up a new television ad in Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s warm and fuzzy: she holds babies and talks about fighting for children’s insurance programs.

Patrick Healy and Robin Toner of The New York Times examine her health insurance proposal in detail, against the backdrop of her previous efforts to push a far broader plan during her husband’s administration. They include some new survey results:

A CBS News poll released Monday night suggests that Mrs. Clinton has already turned the health care issue from a liability to an asset, at least among Democratic primary voters: 61 percent said they had confidence in her ability to make the right decisions on health care, compared with 42 percent who felt that way about Mr. Obama, and 39 percent about Mr. Edwards. The survey also found that few voters held her responsible for the failure to pass universal health insurance during her husband’s presidency.

While mentioning estimates that her plan could cost $110 billion a year, The Wall Street Journal looks at how Mrs. Clinton is trying to turn old enemies in the business world into allies by offering tax breaks as part of the proposal.
On the other hand, The Los Angeles Times takes stock of the ways her proposal underscores how she has become the main target for Republican candidates. Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney both weighed in with criticism of her plan yesterday. Interestingly, The Boston Globe finds similarities between her plan and a Romney-backed state law to insure Massachusetts residents.

Health insurance in Florida is on Romney's agenda today for another “Ask Mitt Anything” town hall meeting, this one in Orange Park. Fred Thompson also campaigns in Florida today.

And Mr. Giuliani heads to London for meetings and fundraisers. As The Washington Post notes, several of the candidates or their spouses are wooing expatriot American voters overseas.