Hillary Clinton in 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
On Budget & Economy:
Look back to 1990s to see how I’d be fiscally responsible
Q: Would it be a priority of your administration to balance the federal budget every year? A: Well, fiscal responsibility is a very high priority for me. We don’t have to go back very far in our history, in fact just to the
1990s, to see what happens when we do have a fiscally responsible budget that does use rules of discipline to make sure that we’re not cutting taxes or spending more than we can afford. I will institute those very same approaches.
You can’t do it in a year. It’ll take time. But the economy will grow again when we start acting fiscally responsible.
And then we can save money in the government by cutting out private contractors, closing loopholes, getting the health care system to be more efficient. We’ll do all of this at the same time, but the results will take awhile for us to actually see.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Education:
Fully fund special education & 21st century classrooms
Let’s use those dollars for education strategically. Let’s do what we said we were going to do. How about funding special education which we never have to the extent we promised? How about fully funding whatever we ask the local communities to do?
I want to have a very holistic view of this because if you go into a classroom today, it didn’t look like the 21st century in most instances. It looks very familiar to me who was last in a classroom decades ago.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Environment:
Advocate a cap and trade system
I advocate a cap and trade system. What the auction of pollution permits is taking that money and invest in new technologies, new ways of getting to our objectives that I’ve outline inside my energy plan. I want to use some of it to cushion the costs tha
will come on to the US consumer. It’s not just enough to tackle global warming, we’ve got to enlist the help of the next generation. My fifth grade teacher said it was to study math and science, but it gave me an idea of contributing to my country.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Establish coherent diplomatic approach toward China
Q: Who has more leverage, China or the US?A: We currently still have more leverage, but it doesn’t really count because we’re not using it. We have handicapped ourselves because of Bush’s irresponsible fiscal policies, but we’ve also, unfortunately,
seen an incoherent foreign policy. I fear that if we don’t start taking steps to demonstrate that we are back in charge of our fiscal destiny, that we do have a coherent diplomatic approach toward China, China will continue to gain leverage over us.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Establish leadership & moral authority via multilateralism
Q: When future historians write of your administration’s foreign policy pursuits, what will be noted as your doctrine and the vision you cast for U.S. diplomatic relations?A: It will be a doctrine of restoring
America’s leadership and moral authority through multilateral organizations, through attempts to come to agreements on issues ranging from global warming to stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other dangerous weapons.
It will be a doctrine that demonstrates that the
United States is not afraid to cooperate; that through cooperation in our interdependent world, we actually can build a stronger country and a stronger world that will be more reflective of our values.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Government Reform:
Never abuse the purpose of signing statements
I would use the signing statements the way presidents before Bush used them. They were used to clarify the law, to perhaps make it more coherent with other laws that had been passed. Bush’s used them as essentially a form of veto. When Bush signed the
bill, he used a signing statement to say I don’t have to follow that unless I choose to. Let’s quit with all of the perversion of the constitution and the rule of law. Let’s get back to what presidents did in both parties and remove the legacy of Bush.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Principles & Values:
Focus on foreign policy and revising executive orders
I will send bipartisan emissaries around the world with a simple message that the era of cowboy diplomacy is over. We’re going to start working together to try and find common ground wherever possible. I will review executive orders, rescind those that
undermine the Constitution & betray the rule of law, & issues like not interfering with science. I’ll ask Congress to send me everything that Bush vetoed like stem cell research and begin to prepare my legislative and budget proposals for the Congress.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Dec 13, 2007
On Tax Reform:
Want to restore the tax rates we had in the ‘90s
It’s important we recognize how people feel in Iowa and across America. They’re one pink slip, one medical diagnosis away from falling through. I want to restore the tax rates we had in the ‘90s. That means raising taxes on corporations and wealthy
individuals. I want to keep the middle-class tax cuts, and I want to start making changes that will save us money, save money in our Medicare budget, save money for the average American. During the ‘90s the typical Indiana family’s income rose $7,000.
I want to go back to a question. You all campaign on fairly significant new programs in education, health care, and the like that will cost Billions of dollars. At the same time, many of you have said that even if we start pulling troops out of
Iraq now, it will take some time to do that in a safe and orderly way. So if we assume that we’ll continue to have some military expenses in Iraq for many months, how will you pay for your new ideas in the short term?
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate
Dec 13, 2007
On War & Peace:
Continue diplomatic engagement with Iran
Q: Do you agree with the president’s assessment that Iran still poses a threat? And do you agree that the NIE’s news shows that isolation and sanctions work?A: I’m relieved that the intelligence community has reached this conclusion, but
I vehemently disagree with the president that nothing’s changed and therefore nothing in American policy has to change. I have for two years advocated diplomatic engagement with Iran, and I think that’s what the president should do.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007
On War & Peace:
Believed, with others, that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapon
Q: Are the Revolutionary Guards proliferators of mass destruction?A: Well, many of us believe that. Earlier this year, Senator Edwards told an audience in Israel that the nuclear threat from Iran was the greatest threat to our generation.
Back in 2004, Senator Obama told the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board that he would even consider nukes to take out Iran’s nuclear capacity. So there was a very broadly based belief that they were pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007
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