Delaney brings 2020 campaign to county
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney made a stop in Mount Ayr Sunday, August 4 and spoke to about a dozen citizens in the basement of the Mount Ayr Public Library.
Delaney is an attorney and businessman who represented Maryland’s sixth district in Congress from 2013-2019.
A self-described “blue collar kid” whose father’s electrician’s union provided a scholarship for Delaney to first attend college, the New Jersey native rose to the position as the youngest CEO on the New York Stock Exchange.
Coming off an appearance at the recent national Democratic debates where he gained some publicity for sparring with Sen. Elizabeth Warren over healthcare initiatives, Delaney repeated his views on the best way to achieve universal healthcare for all U.S. citizens.
Delaney said he fully supports a “public option” whereby the government would provide basic healthcare coverage for anyone who desires it.
He stops short, however, of supporting various “Medicare-for-All” plans offered by Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and others.
Instead, Delaney supports offering American citizens a range of healthcare options, including not only the single-payer public option but also retaining access to private insurance and employer-based insurance. His plan, he said, offers healthcare coverage to everyone while eliminating current coverage from no one.
Beside healthcare, Delaney said the government should focus its attention on other issues such as education, infrastructure, climate change, small business incentives, and immigration.
He advocates a year of public service for all high school graduates. Under his plan young people could choose from four means of service: the military, internships in the trades, community service, or a group he calls the “Climate Corps,” which would be responsible for work related to environmental concerns.
After their year or more of service, the young people would be offered one or more years tuition at a state college or university.
He also advocates universal pre-K as well as including community college as part of basic public education.
On the immigration debate, Delaney cites the implosion of law and order in three unnamed Central American countries. He advocates a plan in which a coalition of countries that would help stabilize the judicial systems within those countries and end the corruption between street gangs and law enforcement. A similar plan, he said, successfully brought order to Columbia several years ago.
Other topics discussed during Delaney’s hour-long conversation included student debt, gun violence, money in politics and the lack of leadership in Congress.
Delaney is currently crossing the state to drum up support for his campaign. He has spent more time in Iowa than any of his Democratic opponents.
In an average of Iowa political polls, Delaney is garnering only 1 percent support, slightly higher than his 0.7 percent support nationally.
