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Democratic Debate Quotes

Posted on: Thursday, 13 December 2007, 18:00 CST

By The Associated Press

Quotes from the Democrats' debate Thursday in Johnston, Iowa. Organizers excluded Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel.

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HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

- On whether the North American Free Trade Agreement should be scrapped or changed: "Well, it should be changed ... I want to be a president who focuses on smart, pro-American trade. I will review every trade agreement. I'm going to ask for revisions that I think will actually benefit our country, particularly our workers, our exporters. And I'm going to go to the international community and get the kind of enforceable agreements and standards on labor and environment that we have been seeking as Democrats. Because we need to make it clear to the rest of the world that we are an open society, we believe in trade, but we don't want to be the trade patsies of the world."

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BARACK OBAMA

-On what he would accomplish in his first year as president: "I will call in the Joint Chiefs of Staff and tell them they have a new mission, which is to, in a responsible, careful way, end this war in Iraq, bring our combat troops home. I will initiate the kind of diplomacy that's necessary to stabilize the country and the region as we're pulling out. Number two, I'll call in my new attorney general to review every single executive order that's been issued by George Bush. And any of those that have undermined our Constitution or subverted our civil liberties are going to be reversed. Number three, we're going to have an open conversation with all the key players in the health care arena to make sure that we are moving forward on a plan to provide coverage to every single American, and to save money so that we can actually afford it over the long haul."

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JOE BIDEN

-On what features make up the best education system in the world: "You don't need a doctorate in education to know there's four things everybody out there knows we have to do. Every parent knows it intuitively. Got to start kids at school earlier. You got to put them in smaller classes; the smaller the class, the better the outcome. In order to do that, you need 100,000 more teachers. You got to pay teachers. In this economy, you have six out of 10 going into teaching leaving within five years because the pay's not competitive. And, lastly, you got to provide access to college, and that costs money. And we can easily pay for it. It's about our priorities."

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JOHN EDWARDS

-On the possibility of increasing taxes to pay for government programs: "I think the truth of the matter is that the tax policy in America has been established by big corporations and the wealthiest Americans. That's why we have tax breaks for the top 1 percent and 2 percent. It's why the profits of big corporations keep getting bigger and bigger, while most working middle-class families are struggling. So what we ought to be doing instead is getting rid of these tax breaks for big - the wealthiest Americans - big tax breaks for companies that are actually taking American jobs overseas. This is insanity, when we're losing American jobs at the rate we are today. And then, on top of that, we need to help middle-class families. I have proposed specific ideas to help them save, to help them send their kids to college, and to make sure that they can pay for child care. All of these things are aimed at making sure that we have - that we strengthen the middle class, that we can pay for things like universal health care - I mean, you can't have universal health care, to be honest with people, unless you have a way to pay for it, and this is how we pay for it."

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CHRIS DODD

-On what he believes he could accomplish in his first year as president: "I've said the very first day, I'll do whatever I can by executive power to give you back your Constitution. I've been campaigning on it daily for the last year and a half, been active trying to legislate in this area. Certainly, the war, but also a robust diplomacy in the Middle East as well. It isn't just about ending the war; it's about engaging in a constructive and positive way to offer some hope for people. And I won't wait until January 20th on health care, energy policy. A week after the election, I'll convene people to begin talking about the stakeholders coming together to shape a policy that will give us answers on those two issues."

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BILL RICHARDSON

-On energy independence: "I think fuel efficiency standards in this country should be 50 miles per gallon, not 35. I think that's pathetic. I think we need to have 30 percent renewable sources in all our electricity by the year 2020. ... Reduce our consumption of oil by 50 percent by having flex-fuel vehicles - 50 miles per gallon. Also we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And I would do so by 90 percent with a cap-and-trade program. But, most importantly, it's going to take the American people. And it's going to take a president on a bully pulpit asking the American people to sacrifice a little bit, and I will. And that means being more sensitive to mass transit, to appliances, to air conditioning, to the way we live. And if we all do this without mandates, but we all do this, we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which is enormously unhealthy."

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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