George:

I was in Alexandria on Friday on other business, so I stopped in at the Northern Virginia Community College meeting where Kerry announced his plan for raising the minimum wage and for holding down health insurance costs. He wants to phase in a minimum wage of $7.00 an hour by 2007. His plan for holding down health insurance costs, as I understand it, has three parts. First, he wants small businesses to have an option to buy the same health plan that is available to members of Congress. Health insurance companies want employers to be members of a group, and they set their cost estimates based on the performance of the group. The larger the group, the lower the premiums tend to be. This lets small businesses become part of a larger group, and the consequence should be good benefits (what Congress has voted for itself) at a lower price. Second, he wants a tax credit for small businesses who offer the Congressional Health Plan to employees who make less 300% of the poverty line (about $30,000 for a single person, about $67,000 for a family of 5). Third, he wants what he calls a "premium rebate" pool, where the federal government would help pay for medical costs incurred with certain high cost health cases. Related to the risk sharing benefits of having small businesses join the Congressional Health Plan, his folks estimate that it would save up to $1,000 annually on premiums for a family health policy.

Kerry's economists project that the cost of these provisions would be less than the Bush tax breaks to those who make more than $200,000. He wants to roll back those tax breaks to pay for health care.

I have been critical of John Kerry for his stiff manner, but I was impressed with his performance. He spoke confidently. He answered questions directly. He was able to explain himself clearly. He knew his facts, and he used them in making his points -- not just in his stump speech, but when questions ranged farther afield. Most importantly, he seems to have toned down one of the tendencies that I have found most annoying -- the tendency to respond to a one-on-one question with a speech. I have often noted that by the third word of his answer, his voice rises to the cadence of an orator, and you wonder if he would be like that across the coffee table in your living room. The good news is that he seems to be getting better about that. He's still not a Bill Clinton in this regard, but he seems to be better than he was 6 months ago.

Granted, it was a stage-managed event. He still needs to figure out a way to explain his health plan in the length of time available in debates and other more confrontational settings, where he doesn't have the luxury of controlling his own speaking time. His best line, I thought, came when he was talking with a woman who works at a fast-food restaurant, making little more than minimum wage, without health insurance. Kerry quipped, "So you're on the Bush health plan -- pray you don't get sick."

I was impressed with him -- more impressed that I expected to be.

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, June 20, 2004)