Clinton: It Takes a New Government to Raise a Child

Citing the Bush administration as one of cronyism, Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said she will improve government responsibility by reducing government no-bid contracts, ending the policy of former Cabinet members lobbying on behalf of friends, and making it a requirement that all government agencies post their budgets and related documents online. Drawing on her experience as first lady, when in 1993 she tried to reform health care, Sen. Clinton often faced criticism that her task force was working in secret too often. Because of this perception, Sen. Clinton feels this is why her health care plan fell apart. Clinton went on to note that despite having more than 1,000 people involved in her project back in 1993; she could still not convince people her task force was not working in secret. Now that Sen. Clinton is hoping to be the next President, she feels it will be part of her job to convince people her administration will not be working behind 'closed doors'. Sen. Clinton feels it is important to show people how government reform will be in the best interest of the people because reform will touch their everyday lives. Clinton likes to use the example of the woman with six children who attended an earlier Clinton rally to show the importance of education in this woman's life. This woman was concerned about being able to afford a college education for her children, and Sen. Clinton was quick to point out the importance of having the head of the Education Department free of any involvement with companies that may be issuing student loans. Sen. Clinton of course was referring to Matteo Fontana who was placed on administrative leave because of his ownership of approximately $100,000 worth of stock in a company involved with federal student loans. On Saturday, Sen. Clinton once again called President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq a tragedy. However, she is not ready to side with other Senators calling for funding to be cut-off for the war. Clinton went on to say that she is not ready to co-sponsor any funding cut-off bills because she is focusing on pressuring President Bush to work with Democrats. Sen. Clinton hopes this approach will show the American people Democrats are will to go that 'extra mile' in solving the people's problems. Sen. Clinton faced her toughest challenge yet on why she voted for the war in Iraq when she was questioned by a young New York women who asked if she actually read the 92-page intelligence briefing prior to the Senate vote on Iraq. Even though Sen. Clinton did admit to being fully briefed on this issue, Clinton went on to say it was hard to go back and recall what everyone was thinking at that point in time. Clinton also pointed out that she thought the Iraq war issue was more about giving President Bush the authority to put inspectors, not troops, in Iraq because this is what she felt President Bush was telling everyone in public and in private. Overall, Sen. Clinton's favorite catch phrase of the day was "I have been through this before" when being questioned on issues that ranged from campaign finance reform to health care reform. Let's hope the American people feel they have "been through this before" when it comes to putting Mrs. Clinton back in the White House.