Edwards: Every voice should be equal
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
SIOUX CITY -- When John Edwards mulls how he'd seek to change Washington politics, he thinks of giving a voice to all.
"One of the things that happens inside Washington is, people live in this little bubble, they become enormously self-important, they think the rest of the world, they think there is no way in the world somebody living in Sioux City can know what's going on," Edwards said.
As he pursues the presidency for the second time, Edwards is still hitting some of his 2004 theme of the Two Americas.
"There are people who have enormous power in Washington, who have money, who have influence and who know how to game the system," Edwards told the Journal's editorial board Monday.
"This is something I take very personally because of the kind of background I grew up in, which is the way I think most Americans grew up. My dad went to work in a mill -- 37 years, every day -- so that I'd have the chances that I've had. I don't think it is right for his voice to not be heard in the same way that somebody who is born into a wealthy family is heard -- they are entitled to be heard too. That's democracy. I think everybody should have the same voice in this democracy. I do, and I believe it to my soul .... That flows into my view of the world. If you want to go to what's core to me, that's core to me."
The Journal was Edwards' only stop in Sioux City as he began an eight-day swing through Iowa, where he's been running in third place in polls, trailing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Edwards, the 2004 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate and a one-term U.S. senator from North Carolina, said Iowa is central to his campaign, so he's working the state hard in advance of the Jan. 3 caucuses.
After losing the 2004 election, Edwards created the Center on Poverty at the University of North Carolina and used his considerable wealth to create a college scholarship program for students hailing from a North Carolina county. He said the 1960s War on Poverty produced mixed results after initially paring the poverty rate in its first decade. Edwards said it is positive that the federal government created Head Start for young kids and enacted Medicaid but a downside is that "a cycle of dependency (was) created."
Edwards said the government needs to help those who are in poverty. "My whole concept is work-centric," he said.
Edwards said he would raise the minimum wage again on top of the increase put into place earlier this year. He also proposed giving free tuition to those who work while attending college. Tax policy changes that would help the poor, Edwards said, include expanding the Earned Income Credit and getting rid of the marriage penalty, which "makes absolutely no sense."
He said faith-based groups have made headway in impoverished areas, and he was a part of one in Urban Ministries before he went to the Senate. But Edwards said the separation between church and state must be maintained, so there can be no federal funding for faith-based groups.
On another war, Edwards said he's concerned the phrase "War on Terror" has been thrown around by the Bush administration "to squash dissent" and undermine long-standing practices against employing extreme torture.
"I think the threat of terrorism is very real," he said, adding, "al-Qaida is public enemy No. 1."
It is time to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Edwards said, dismissing reports that the 2007 surge of 30,000 additional troops achieved more security.
"I don't think things are going well," he said. "The surge was to create an environment so that a political reconciliation could be made." But with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ineffective, Edwards said, removing troops would encourage the Iraqis to stop the sectarian violence.
"We can't impose peace on anybody," he said.
In the same breath, Edwards conceded no presidential candidate can predict an outcome in Iraq. "We are in a difficult place, the judgments are hard," he said.
Edwards described a plan in which universal access to health care could be achieved without going to "single-payer, government-run health care." He said Americans could choose between keeping their private health insurance or going with the government plan, and there would be graduated subsidies based on income for people to help pay the cost. His plan would prohibit companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and put more focus on preventive and chronic care in the medical field.
As president, Edwards said, he would not only push for governmental action to reduce carbon burning that leads to global warming, he would also use "the bully pulpit" to ask Americans to conserve energy.
On other topics, Edwards discussed his concern about how Russia is moving toward a more autocratic government, his plan to use primarily "unmanned drones" rather than fencing to secure the U.S./Mexico border and to create "a path to earned citizenship" for the 12 million illegal immigrants believed to be in the United States.
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
"One of the things that happens inside Washington is, people live in this little bubble, they become enormously self-important, they think the rest of the world, they think there is no way in the world somebody living in Sioux City can know what's going on," Edwards said.
As he pursues the presidency for the second time, Edwards is still hitting some of his 2004 theme of the Two Americas.
"There are people who have enormous power in Washington, who have money, who have influence and who know how to game the system," Edwards told the Journal's editorial board Monday.
"This is something I take very personally because of the kind of background I grew up in, which is the way I think most Americans grew up. My dad went to work in a mill -- 37 years, every day -- so that I'd have the chances that I've had. I don't think it is right for his voice to not be heard in the same way that somebody who is born into a wealthy family is heard -- they are entitled to be heard too. That's democracy. I think everybody should have the same voice in this democracy. I do, and I believe it to my soul .... That flows into my view of the world. If you want to go to what's core to me, that's core to me."
The Journal was Edwards' only stop in Sioux City as he began an eight-day swing through Iowa, where he's been running in third place in polls, trailing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Edwards, the 2004 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate and a one-term U.S. senator from North Carolina, said Iowa is central to his campaign, so he's working the state hard in advance of the Jan. 3 caucuses.
After losing the 2004 election, Edwards created the Center on Poverty at the University of North Carolina and used his considerable wealth to create a college scholarship program for students hailing from a North Carolina county. He said the 1960s War on Poverty produced mixed results after initially paring the poverty rate in its first decade. Edwards said it is positive that the federal government created Head Start for young kids and enacted Medicaid but a downside is that "a cycle of dependency (was) created."
Edwards said the government needs to help those who are in poverty. "My whole concept is work-centric," he said.
Edwards said he would raise the minimum wage again on top of the increase put into place earlier this year. He also proposed giving free tuition to those who work while attending college. Tax policy changes that would help the poor, Edwards said, include expanding the Earned Income Credit and getting rid of the marriage penalty, which "makes absolutely no sense."
He said faith-based groups have made headway in impoverished areas, and he was a part of one in Urban Ministries before he went to the Senate. But Edwards said the separation between church and state must be maintained, so there can be no federal funding for faith-based groups.
On another war, Edwards said he's concerned the phrase "War on Terror" has been thrown around by the Bush administration "to squash dissent" and undermine long-standing practices against employing extreme torture.
"I think the threat of terrorism is very real," he said, adding, "al-Qaida is public enemy No. 1."
It is time to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, Edwards said, dismissing reports that the 2007 surge of 30,000 additional troops achieved more security.
"I don't think things are going well," he said. "The surge was to create an environment so that a political reconciliation could be made." But with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ineffective, Edwards said, removing troops would encourage the Iraqis to stop the sectarian violence.
"We can't impose peace on anybody," he said.
In the same breath, Edwards conceded no presidential candidate can predict an outcome in Iraq. "We are in a difficult place, the judgments are hard," he said.
Edwards described a plan in which universal access to health care could be achieved without going to "single-payer, government-run health care." He said Americans could choose between keeping their private health insurance or going with the government plan, and there would be graduated subsidies based on income for people to help pay the cost. His plan would prohibit companies denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and put more focus on preventive and chronic care in the medical field.
As president, Edwards said, he would not only push for governmental action to reduce carbon burning that leads to global warming, he would also use "the bully pulpit" to ask Americans to conserve energy.
On other topics, Edwards discussed his concern about how Russia is moving toward a more autocratic government, his plan to use primarily "unmanned drones" rather than fencing to secure the U.S./Mexico border and to create "a path to earned citizenship" for the 12 million illegal immigrants believed to be in the United States.
Read more in Hayworth's Politically Speaking blog at www.siouxcityjournal.com/blogs
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Zzyzx wrote on Dec 11, 2007 10:28 PM:
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