Anthony Pollina: Little to say on Symington bid
Times Argus, April 3, 2008, by Daniel Barlow (link to article).
MONTPELIER - Progressive gubernatorial candidate Anthony Pollina had little to say Wednesday about the possibility of facing Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington on the November ballot in addition to incumbent Republican Gov. James Douglas.
Following an afternoon Statehouse press conference criticizing Douglas’ health care record, Pollina said he would discuss his thoughts on having a Democratic challenger on the ballot if and when Symington makes a formal announcement.
Symington, a state representative from Jericho who has presided over the House since 2005, is the latest name floated by Vermont Democrats as a possible challenger to Douglas. Former ambassador Peter Galbraith of Townshend is also considering a run.
“I’m not running against the speaker,” Pollina said Wednesday, adding that he is focusing his campaign on running against the incumbent governor.
He also brushed aside suggestions that he might step out of the governor’s race to make way for a Democrat and instead run for lieutenant governor against incumbent Republican Brian Dubie.Pollina said he has spoken with state Democratic leaders in the months leading up to his campaign and pointed out that some members of that party are crossing the aisle to join him. And he touted his recent endorsement by former Democratic Gov. Phil Hoff and a recent meeting with Windham County Democrats.
But he said he is “completely focused on the governor’s race.”
“I do not intend to change course,” he said.
In a brief meeting with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Douglas said Pollina is incorrect by asserting that nothing is being done on health care reform and he pointed out that much of it is being accomplished with bi-partisan support.
“We are making real progress on health care reform,” Douglas said.
The governor also had little to say about his prospective Democratic opponent, explaining that he is still focused on the legislative session. Symington had accused Douglas of standing in the way of progress this week, but the governor saw it a different way.
“Sometimes I have been standing between the excesses of the Legislature and what is important to the people of the state of Vermont,” he said.
Pollina, a Middlesex resident, focused his entire press conference Wednesday wading into the murky waters of Montpelier’s health care debate. He focused his criticism directly at Douglas, saying rising health insurance premiums for Vermonters cut deep into the governor’s proclaimed Affordability Agenda.
When Douglas won election in 2002, the state was paying $2.8 billion annually on health care, Pollina said. Six years later that number has ballooned to an estimated $4.6 billion, he said, with Vermonters spending about $12 million per day on health care.
“That appears to be the affordability agenda of our current governor,” Pollina said. “It’s an agenda that says we will pay more for health care.”
His criticism comes at a time when dour economic forecasts and declining state revenues have forced all of the Vermont Legislature’s major health care initiatives off the table, including a large expansion of Catamount Health that was touted by Democratic leaders at the start of the session.
But it also came as the House spent a second day debating an omnibus health care bill that makes many tweaks to the system, including minor expansions to Catamount, a focus on combating obesity and allowing children to stay on family health insurance plans up to the age of 23.
Pollina said he favors a single-payer, universal health care system because it would give equal coverage to all and be cheaper than the current system, which is a combination of private insurance and programs run by the state and federal governments.
But if he wins the November election, Pollina said he would first tour the state to hear from Vermonters their ideas for cutting or slowing the increasing costs of health care. Any reforms would likely take two to three years to accomplish, he said.
“It’s not about cutting ribbons. It’s not about rhetoric,” Pollina said. “It’s about Vermonters who are struggling and suffering while the governor sits by and watches costs increase.”
Louis Porter contributed to this report.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@rutlandherald.com