Clinton and Sanders duel on Wall Street and healthcare in Democratic debateGrowing tensions over the future of the Democratic party erupted at its fourth presidential debate on Sunday, as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed over whether Barack Obama should be succeeded with pragmatism or idealism.
After a series of relatively cautious warm-up debates dominated by the former secretary of state, the candidates sparred over radical policy issues much closer to the agenda of Sanders supporters, leaving Clinton on the defensive over healthcare and Wall Street.
“Even when the Democrats were in charge of Congress we could not get the votes to do that,” warned Clinton, after Sanders upstaged his rival shortly before the debate, by releasing detailed proposals of a plan to get employers to pay for Medicare for all Americans.
A notably more aggressive Sanders accused her talking “nonsense” by claiming his plans would roll back the health insurance reforms of Obama.
“We are not going to tear up the Affordable Care Act – I helped write it – but we are going to move on top of that to a Medicare-for-all system,” said the Vermont senator.
“Tell me why we are spending almost three times more than the British, who guarantee healthcare to all of their people, 50% more than the French, more than the Canadians,” he added.
Estimates by Sanders’ experts claimed that getting rid of private insurance would more than compensate for higher taxes.
Sanders also went on the offensive over Wall Street reform, coming close to accusing Clinton of being “corrupted” by $600,000 in annual speaking fees he said she received from Goldman Sachs.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/17/democratic-debate-clinton-sanders-guns-health-wall-street