WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (AFP) - Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, said Monday that President George W. Bush`s policies have taken educational and health care opportunities from US Latinos as they grew poorer.
She said that under the Bush administration about 50 percent of Hispanic students have been unable to finish high school and that one out of three Latinos lacks health insurance.
"The price of this president`s failed health care policies is paid in the coin of human suffering, and for Latinos, that price is far too high," Teresa Heinz Kerry said at a luncheon organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.
The candidate`s wife, known for her sharp tongue, said the Bush administration "bullied, threatened and broke the law to conceal the truth about the true costs of his Medicare bill, a bill that was full of payoffs to big drug companies."
One day after the president promised during the Republican convention earlier this month to rein in rising health care costs, his administration raised Medicare premiums by 17 percent, Teresa Heinz Kerry said.
The administration came under fire from both parties after Congress approved Bush`s prescription drug benefit, when it was discovered the government had minimized the true cost of the initiative.
"Given policies like these, it is no surprise that the number of Hispanic families living in poverty has soared under the president`s watch," said the candidate`s wife, pointing out that 1.3 million more Hispanic families have been pushed into poverty during Bush`s tenure.