I haven’t put anything up about Hillary Clinton’s Universal Healthcare plan because I am still reading all available information. I will have more asap. Until then though I found a very interesting article in the USA Today that says the following:

Clinton unveiled her plan as Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said President Bush wants to achieve universal health care before he leaves office.

Leavitt told the USA TODAY editorial board that Bush will veto a Democratic plan emerging from Congress that would add $35 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the Children’s Health Insurance Program over five years. In doing so, Leavitt said, Bush will urge Congress to join him in seeking coverage for all Americans.

“He’d like to see the larger debate begin,” Leavitt said. “The very best opportunity we have may well be in the next 15 months.”

Could it be true? What in the world would it mean? Lets have a look.
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News
- Thousands of democrats met in Iowa for Gov. Tom Harkin’s annual steak-fry. Six of the candidates were there and one of the topics of conversation was Iraq. The most notable news was that Senator Barack Obama suggested he now supports tying all Iraq funding to a timetable for withdrawal, leaving him at odds with Sen. Clinton & Sen. Biden.

- Hillary Clinton is getting back into Health Care. Clinton announced during the HuffingtonPost mashup debates that she would be revealing her new plan soon. Mitt Romney has already guessed what’s inside and attacked her on it.

- Speaking of Mitt Romney, he will hold his first online-only town hall.

- Retired four star general, supreme allied commander of NATO and former rumored/potential/defeated candidate in 2008 has given his endorsement to Clinton. “She will be a great leader for the United States of America and a great commander in chief for the men and women in uniform”

- Last week Fred Thompson made news by announcing he isn’t a church-goer and this week Sen. John McCain announced he is a Baptist, despite identifying himself as an Episcopalian for many years. “It plays a role in my life. By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist,” McCain said. “Do I advertise my faith? Do I talk about it all the time? No.”

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The NY Times notes that on his “No Surrender” tour championing the Iraq War and the “troop surge” John McCain has refrained from mentioning the B word, read Bush.

But even as he lashes his presidential campaign that much tighter to the war in Iraq, Mr. McCain is seeking to decouple his fortunes from those of Mr. Bush, in the latest chapter of a 10-year relationship that has been at times tortured, at times cordial, at times symbiotic.

So it is that Mr. McCain sprinkles his speeches not with references to Mr. Bush but to General Petraeus, a shift that not only mirrors the White House strategy of putting the military out front but also symbolically encapsulates a recognition of what many Republicans consider to have been a fundamental mistake of Mr. McCain in his candidacy: trying to present himself as Mr. Bush’s anointed successor and ideological heir.

Fred Thompson appears to be keeping a pretty low profile and a rather light schedule for someone running for president. Especially for someone running for president nearly nine months after a good portion of the other candidates had already announced and started to raise money.

This week Thompson will hold no public appearances, opting instead to attend a few light fundraisers. This is off the heels of a very light second official week as a candidate in which he attended an average of no more than three appearances a day according to the NY Times.

My only question is, why would a guy who seems so unenthusiastic when it comes to running for president leave behind a pretty good gig on Law & Order to do it?

Alan Keyes who ran for president in 1996, 2000 & the Illinois Senate seat in 2004 against Barack Obama (he also ran for the Senate and lost in 1998 & 1992) will be wasting everyones time running once again for the Republican presidential nomination. Keyes will be on the next Republican debate, hosted by Values Voter.