 |
Free Dow Jones Sites  |
As of Friday, September 21, 2007 | Set My Home Page |
|
| Free Dow Jones Sites |
As of Friday, September 21, 2007 | Set My Home Page |
|
OTHER FREE CONTENT
FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORS' PICKS Ancient Rite: Churches have reinvented confession. Space Squinters: NASA is loosening its vision standards. Numbers Guy: The Web shows how politicians massage statistics. Hold Up: Democrats shoot themselves in the foot over gun control. Ponzi Scheme: The U.S. alleges Hsu used his role to lure investors. Question of the Day: Should a foreign state own part of a U.S. market? BLOGS Most Popular Posts
|
Democratic Hopefuls Show
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![[promo edwards]](/was/20100322163935im_/http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/OB-AQ455_promoe_20070921091414.jpg) |
| AP |
| Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, left, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson were at the debate in Iowa Thursday evening. |
Taking part were Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, Joseph Biden of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama declined to attend, saying he will no longer participate in debates that aren't sponsored by the Democratic Party. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel weren't invited, organizers said, because neither has paid staff or a campaign office in Iowa.
The five who did appear provided little difference between them over such issues as Social Security solvency and national health care -- issues considered most important to AARP's over-50 membership. Instead, they sparred over who was most qualified to advance the agenda in Washington, where at least token Republican support will be needed to pass just about anything.
Particularly prickly was Mr. Biden, who said he doubted anyone on the stage had the chops to successfully pass legislation on the scale of health-care reform. He noted that health-care reform was spearheaded by Mrs. Clinton 15 years ago and went down in flames; when Mr. Richardson said he alone had the executive experience needed to formulate a working plan, Mr. Biden all but hooted. "That's like saying, 'I played halfback in high school, I can play in the pros,' " Mr. Biden said.
The debate followed an increasing trend this political season of staging forums around narrow constituencies. Most of the candidates have already participated in debates that focused on black and Hispanic issues, for example.
The forum followed a freewheeling form in which candidates were allowed to insert themselves nearly at will into virtually every subject being discussed. The result made the event resemble a conversation, in which candidates were free to respond to each other and occasionally lob barbs. Mr. Edwards, for example, echoed statements made earlier by his wife, who said she thought Mrs. Clinton had appropriated the health-care reform she unveiled this week from Mr. Edwards. "It's a very good proposal," Mr. Edwards said. "It's very similar to mine." Mr. Edwards added that he had disclosed his plan seven months ago.
For her part, Mrs. Clinton smiled. "Been there, done that," she said, noting that she proposed universal health care 15 years ago. "It was pretty lonely back then."
On keeping Social Security solvent, most candidates were in favor of cutting federal spending so the government wouldn't have to rely so much on borrowing from the retirement trust fund or slightly raise the Social Security tax cap, the level of earnings subject to taxation in the program, this year set at $97,500. Mr. Edwards, however, would keep the current earnings cap, but start collecting taxes again on those earning more than $250,000 a year.
Write to Christopher Cooper at christopher.cooper@wsj.com
 |
||
 |
Sponsored by | |
 |
||
![[back to MSN Money]](/was/20100322163935im_/http://online.wsj.com/img/msnmoney_back_to.gif)
WHAT'S NEWS