Questions & Answers

The War In Iraq

Roberts: Today, the Senate is set to debate a measure that would call for withdrawing America's combat troops from Iraq. And, in a historic vote, the House of Representatives Friday passed a bill that called for American troops to be out of Iraq by the end of the summer 2008. You've said that if this president doesn't end the war, if you are president you will. Would you sign such a bill if you were president?

Clinton: Yes, I'm hoping that we can get it passed in the Senate. … We're working very hard to persuade our Republican colleagues to start this path toward getting out of Iraq. … Perhaps [the president will] work with us to extricate us from Iraq. … If I were president, I would certainly work with Congress to do that.

Iowans & Health Care

Roberts: You've joined us today to talk about health care. You've said you still have the scars from your 1993 health-care efforts. There's a lot of deja vu. In fact, you addressed a group of health-care workers this weekend that you talked to back in 1993. Fourteen years later, the problems are still there. There's someone in the audience who'd like to ask you a question about how things will be different this time around, Dr. Steve Eckstat.

Steve Eckstat: Sen. Clinton, I was part of your 1993 Health Care Task Force. Obviously we weren't very successful at that time, so as president would you try to create a plan for universal health coverage again?

Clinton: I certainly would. It's one of the reasons I'm running for president. … I think we're in a better position to do that today than we were in '93 or '94. … It's hard to ignore the fact that nearly 47 million people don't have insurance. But also because the people who have insurance find that insurance companies deny what you need.

Kathy Byars: Why do members of Congress get the Mercedes of insurance plans and pension plans while many of their constituents are just trying to pay for the basic necessities?

Difficult Questions

Clinton: I believe that one of the ways we can get health care for everyone is to open up the federal plan that's available to members of Congress … to everybody. That would be one way that we could say to you that you have the same right as anybody in Congress.

Q: If Hillary is elected, we will have had a Bush or Clinton in the White House for four consecutive administrations. Doesn’t it run contrary to the spirit of change and democracy to have our country ruled by two families for so long?

A: Hillary is running on her own merits, not as a “wife of.” She has her own opinions, separate from those of her husband. Both Hillary and Bill have been intensely interested in politics since they met at Yale Law School. While Bill campaigned and became governor of Arkansas, Hillary ran a legal aid clinic for the poor. The Clintons are a dynamic political couple, while the Bushes are a true dynasty – and one of them wasn’t even truly elected in 2000.

Q: Why should I vote for Hillary when she screwed up health care during Bill’s presidency?

A: Hillary has fought for universal health care for years, putting her reputation and her full commitment behind her promises. Here’s what she says: “Yes, I did try in ’93 and ’94, and I like to say I have the scars to show for it, but I learned a lot about what we have to do. And having a plan, yes, that’s part of it. But more important, we have to have a sense of national commitment that universal health care is an American value. We have to quit being told the special interests, like the insurance companies and the drug companies, that, somehow, we can’t do what most other developed countries do, which is cover everybody and provide decency and respect to every single person in this country with health care. I think that both the process and the plan were flawed. We were trying to do something that was very hard to do, and we made a lot of mistakes.”

Charles N. Kahn, executive vice president of the Health Insurance Association in 93-4, refers to his battles with Clinton as “ancient history” and says “she is extremely knowledgeable about health care and has become a Congressional leader on the issue.”

Q: Isn’t Hillary one of those Democrats who are beholden to Wall Street/private interests/lobbyists?

This post, written by a nonsupporter of Hillary: www.theleftcoaster.com makes the case, based on Hillary's voting records and not on media attacks, that when it counts Hillary consistenly supports progressive causes.

Q: : If Hillary wants to end the war, why did she vote for it in 2003?

A: Hillary did support the resolution to authorize force if diplomatic action was not successful, and she was concerned about Saddam's evasion of UN weapons inspectors, but she did not support the rush to war. Here's what she said about the resolution in 2002:

"If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us...

a unilateral attack, while it cannot be ruled out, on the present facts is not a good option...Even though the resolution before the Senate is not as strong as I would like in requiring the diplomatic route first and placing highest priority on a simple, clear requirement for unlimited inspections, I will take the President at his word that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if at all possible."

Hillary also stated that she did not believe there was a link between 9/11 and Saddam. Her position during the lead-up to war was both truthful and measured.

Hillary is the best choice to withdraw our troops responsibly. We - the US - created the current vacuum of power in Iraq, so it is up to us fix the mess we made and not just leave Iraq to implode. Here is a summary of Hillary's position on Iraq from her website: www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/iraq/

As you will see, she wants to cap troop levels at a January 1, 2007 level and set real benchmarks for the Iraqi government. She opposes permanent bases in Iraq and this year tried to pass a resolution with Senator Byrd that would deauthorize the Iraq War Resolution. Her priority is ending the war.

Q: Hillary’s opponents say that she doesn’t have clear positions on the issues. Are they right?

A: It’s always politically convenient to accuse an opponent of “waffling,” but let’s take a closer look at one controversial point in the latest debate, regarding the Bill Clinton presidential archives. Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker writes,

“Hillary refused to answer candidly when asked if she would release communications between her and then-President Bill Clinton that might illuminate her claims to White House experience. The former president has ordered all records kept under seal until 2012, but Hillary's response suggested that she has no choice in the matter. She can't ask her husband to lift the ban?”

This attack shows how far Hillary’s critics will stretch to accuse her of evasion. Bill Clinton’s presidential records are – and should be –

solely his domain. Hillary didn’t waffle, she answered the question truthfully, without making promises that she will not be able to keep.

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