Kaine outlines plan on health care during Henderson campaign stop Friday
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine outlined a tax credit for caregivers, focusing on finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and keeping “skyrocketing” prescription drug costs in check before a small, largely senior citizen crowd in Henderson Friday.
Kaine, a U.S. senator and former governor of Virginia, suggested a 20 percent tax credit up to $6,000 for costs incurred by caregiving, “to make it a little bit easier,” noting that while American life expectancy has increased, policies haven’t kept up with the increased later-in-life caregiving needs.
“We need to race ahead” on Alzheimer’s research, Kaine said. “Let’s set a goal of finding a cure by 2025.”
Kaine vowed that he and Clinton would preserve Social Security. He said GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in the past has called the model that has current workers “chipping in” for current retirees a Ponzi scheme.
“I just call it shared responsibility,” Kaine said.
A crowd of about 130 people saw Kaine speak Friday morning at Sun City MacDonald Ranch in Henderson, Kaine’s second campaign stop in the Las Vegas Valley in the past two days. Kaine appeared at a much larger rally at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Training Center in Las Vegas Thursday night.
The visit to Nevada is Kaine’s third since he joined the Democratic ticket in July. Kaine returned because “Nevada is important,” and he emphasized voter registration at both campaign stops.
Kaine again on Friday drew on his performance Tuesday night in the only vice presidential debate of this campaign, where he squared off against Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
One of Kaine’s goals was to “lay Donald Trump’s words down in front of Mike Pence and say ‘I can’t believe you can defend this,’” he said.
Kaine is “proud to get up every morning” to support and promote Hillary Clinton, “something Gov. Pence is less comfortable doing” with Trump, he said.
Congressional candidate Jacky Rosen, who introduced Kaine, called Trump “hateful, horrible, misogynistic,” and said Clinton and Kaine are “on the right side” of issues like gun safety, “a woman’s right to choose” and climate change.
Pence tried to “duck and run” Tuesday night from things Trump has said previously, Rosen said.
“I don’t want a Tweeter in chief, I want a commander-in-chief,” she said of Trump.
The Clinton campaign is confident looking ahead to the second presidential debate Sunday night, because Clinton thrives in town hall-style debates, Kaine said.
In response to an audience member’s question about the Black Lives Matter movement, Kaine drew on his time as the mayor of Richmond, Virginia, where “we needed to bring the crime rate down but not by muscling people around.”
Kaine called for an investment in community policing, better mental health services and “reasonable rules on guns.”
Kaine called himself a Second Amendment supporter and a gun owner. He called the 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech “the worst day of my life.”
Kaine pointed to “heartbreaking cases of communities where there’s a big gap between the police and the community.”
“When that gap exists, it’s very dangerous for people in the community and it’s dangerous for police,” Kaine said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.
