There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between Clinton and McCain on many important issues. The last straw is Clinton’s adoption of McCain’s pandering at the pump proposal. (Gas tax moratorium.) But there are many other issues on which these two share similar views. Don’t forget that the Clintons (Bill and Hillary) come from the wing of the Democratic party that bends so strongly to the center that they tilt right.
- In addressing the mortgage meltdown, Clinton has never tackled the fundamental problem that caused this crisis in the first place – the failure of government to oversee and regulate the mortgage lenders. Apparently Clinton does not want to use the word "regulate" for fear of alarming Republicans. Clinton’s band-aid "solution" of a 90 day moratorium only postpones a real solution, and her 5 year freeze on interest rates is as bad as Nixon’s freeze on prices and wages just before the 1972 election.
- Clinton is very hesitant to restore the capital gains tax to pre-Bush levels. I guess she thinks people who work for their income should pay proportionately more tax than those who clip coupons. Most Democrats work for their income. Why isn’t she looking out for them?
- Clinton does not want to raise the cap on FICA (social security) contributions so people making up to, say, $200,000 would contribute and thus help sustain the Social Security system. Why does she want to protect this upper income group? She also has proposed an American Retirement Accounts Plan that spends federal tax dollars to help individuals invest in private retirement accounts. Tax dollars that could be spent to help make the Social Security system solvent are instead spent on individual retirement accounts. Did I hear someone say "privatization?"
- Do you recall McCain’s refrain during one of his campaign appearances a while back: "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran"? Well, Clinton has said, without hesitation, that she would nuke Iran to protect Israel. (McCain might do so only if the U.S. itself were directly attacked or seriously threatened.) Clinton also joined the Republicans in the Senate to designate an arm of the Iranian armed forces, the Revolutionary Guards, as a foreign terrorist organization. With Bush and Cheney in power, many of us have worried about starting an unnecessary war with Iran. What would Hillary Clinton do if she were president? If she were to try diplomacy, she would want a year to "prepare" to talk.
- Clinton has said that she will get us out of Iraq. But she will not start until she has been in office "60 days." What are the 60 days for? To give the military the opportunity to persuade her that a pullout would be a mistake? Obama and an overwhelming majority of the American public already know that being in Iraq is THE mistake. Obama will not hesitate to get out of the horrendous quagmire.
Finally, we should remember that when Hillary Clinton first came to the White House in 1992, she did indeed hit the ground running. From day one she was given the job of developing a health care plan. When campaigning in 1992, Bill Clinton promised a comprehensive health care system and that is one of the major reasons he won. Hillary did develop a plan and it was introduced with great fanfare to Congress. But then the attacks came from the right and from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The Clintons did not have the fortitude to fight these forces. Bill and Hillary were defeated by Harry and Louise.
This failure to keep a major campaign promise is one of the major reasons why the Republicans swept into Congress in 1994. It takes a strong person to fight the lobbies and the Republican right. We see that Barack Obama has the strength to stand alone in resisting a misguided moratorium on the federal gasoline tax. On other issues, Obama will fight for the things he believes in. And the things he believes in are traditional Democratic party principles, not Republican lite.