ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 2, 1994                   TAG: 9411020046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TODAY'S TOPIC: POVERTY

There are so many people who every month have to choose between putting food on the table and paying for medicine, and I want to know what you propose to do about it.

- George Lynch, Martinsville

COLEMAN: "The health care reform measures I will support in the next Congress will - among other things: provide affordable health insurance to the working poor; require tort reform that will curtail the huge noneconomic awards in malpractice and product liability suits that have given lawyers more sway in medical care than doctors; and preserve choice and competition to reduce costs and ensure that Americans continue to receive the high-quality health care that is the envy of the world.

"Taken together, these measures will go a long way toward making certain that people won't have to make a choice between putting food on the table or paying for medicine."

NORTH: "We must continue to work to eliminate the causes of poverty throughout our nation, especially among our senior citizens. One of the most effective means to do so is to have a healthy economy so that all can benefit from the resulting economic growth. We need to refocus our social services where these programs can best help people. We must also eliminate waste and duplication, which limit the effectiveness of the limited dollars we have to use. We also must do more to get our voluntary organizations - charities, churches, etc. - involved in helping people."

ROBB: "I do not believe people should be forced to choose between food and medicine. We need to expand economic growth and job opportunities, and as far as I'm concerned, the single biggest obstacle to both sustained economic growth and social progress is the budget deficit. That's why I support the balanced budget amendment, line-item veto and specific spending cuts.

"In addition, I support tax fairness for working and middle-income persons. That is why I supported last year's expansion of the earned income tax credit to help working families with low incomes get ahead by reducing tax burdens. In Virginia, over 330,000 families - 20 percent of all families - got an income tax cut, amounting to a $569.4 million reduction in tax burdens."

Keywords:
POLITICS 


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