Democratic Debate Promises New Trade Climate
It was the Democrats’ turn today to debate for the last time before the January 3 Iowa caucuses. Like yesterday’s Republican debate, the Democrats focused on trade and energy policy. The candidates revealed no new policy positions, and instead tried to highlight the overall messages of their campaigns.
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) said he would remove U.S. troops from Iraq in his first year in office. He advocated eliminating funds for what he says are unnecessary weapons systems, including a new atomic bomb. Gov. Bill Richardson agreed on the need for military cost reductions, but called for “guaranteed funding” for the Veterans Administration. Richardson expressed concern that “somehow we’re losing sight” of Iraq’s importance in the election.
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said he wants to “change the mindset that got us into war.” He criticized President Bush for having “fed us a politics of fear and distorted our foreign policy in profound ways” since 9/11.
Trade: Richardson called China a “strategic competitor” and pledged to be “tougher” on China’s human rights and trade policies. “We ought to ban all these toys they’re bringing in,” he said. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) said the U.S.-China relationship is “adversarial,” and charged China with benefitting from slave labor and currency manipulation.
John Edwards said human rights should be “central to the way America engages with the rest of the world,” and “central to our trade policy.”
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) promised to “review every trade agreement.” She said the United States must “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.”
Climate change: Dodd touted his plan to implement a corporate carbon tax to deal with climate change. “Until you deal with the price differentials here, cheaper fuel is always going to win out,” he said. “You need to be able to tax this carbon that is killing us and killing this planet.”
In a dig at the Republican candidates, who yesterday refused to give a show of hands on whether climate change poses a danger, Clinton spoke for her fellow candidates on the issue. “We believe in it,” she said. “We think it’s a real problem.”
