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[fazoolius]

A god laugh for the day...

Chelsea Clinton stumps for Hillary at Memorial Union
Judith Davidoff — 2/12/2008 8:59 am

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/271997

It was a surprising choice of topic given the mostly student crowd stuffed into a lounge at the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. But the first question posed to Chelsea Clinton, who was stumping in Madison this afternoon for her mother, concerned Social Security.

"It is important to me because the Baby Boomers are aging," the young woman told Clinton.

Clinton, the daughter of presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, said that a return to "fiscal responsibility," as promoted by her mother, would be one of the ways to secure Social Security. She also noted that her mom, as she referred to Hillary Clinton throughout the question and answer session, was the "most fiscally conservative candidate running" and "the only candidate who tells you how she'll pay for everything."

Chelsea appeared earlier in the day on the UW-Milwaukee campus. With just a week to go before Wisconsin's Feb. 19 presidential primary, the candidates and their surrogates are pouring into the state. Sen. Barack Obama will appear at a rally Tuesday night at the Kohl Center and both Democratic candidates will appear at a Democratic Party dinner Saturday night in Milwaukee.

The youth vote is considered critical in the tight Democratic primary race between Clinton and Obama. The Clinton campaign put up a banner behind Chelsea that read, "Hillblazers, Our Voice, Our Future," a reference to the network of campus activists it has established nationwide.

A question about what Clinton would do to make college more affordable allowed Chelsea to court this youth vote. Chelsea said her mom, if elected president, would raise the maximum amount allowed for federal student loans and institute a program that would allow service after school to count as payment-in-kind for student loans.

In all, Chelsea spent more than an hour fielding questions, with perhaps the toughest grilling coming over her mother's stance on the Iraq war.

One man asked Chelsea if her mother has ever "shown any remorse" for her vote on war funding that ended up costing "millions of Iraqis their lives. "

Chelsea said her mother's vote "gave permission for inspectors to go in" to check on claims of weapons of mass destruction and that she was "proud" that her mother was the first of the current presidential candidates "to write to the Pentagon asking how to end the war."

In response to a question from a young woman veteran who has already served 18 months in Iraq and is being redeployed, Chelsea said her mother believes that those who served their country should be provided for in return. To that end, Clinton supports full funding for the Veterans Administration and the creation of a refugee program for Iraqis who have served United States military personnel in such roles as translators and guards, Chelsea said.

Chelsea also spoke in depth and without notes on a wide range of Sen. Clinton's proposed policies, from her plan to do away with the 2005 oil and gas tax credits and invest instead in renewable energies to her plan for universal health care. Chelsea said her mother would also put an end to the Bush Administration's controversial "No Child Left Behind" school program that cuts funding to schools based on test scores.

When asked about Sen. Clinton's stance on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, Chelsea said the senator supports civil unions, but stopped short of endorsing gay marriage. Chelsea also said Clinton would immediately provide domestic partner benefits to all federal employees, do away with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, strengthen federal hate crime laws and beef up civil rights enforcement.

Chelsea got a little flak from an older woman in the audience who took her to task for calling super delegates -- those who have the freedom to cast a vote for whichever candidate they want despite how the state votes in Tuesday's primary -- on behalf of her mother.

Chelsea disagreed that such lobbying was "unethical," as the woman charged, and insisted that she is motivated to reach out to voters because she is so proud of her mother.

Chelsea promised that her mother would be visiting Madison before the primary, but a Clinton spokeswoman said those plans are not yet confirmed.

In reference to a question on Clinton's commitment to women's rights, Chelsea said her mother would push for the "paycheck fairness act," which would ensure equal pay for equal work, and eliminate abstinence-only programs in favor of "honest, sexual education."



Fiscally conservative...hahaha!!! Love that. Then in the very next few paragraphs, the questions is what Clinton would do about rising costs of college. ANSWER: spend more federal money and give it to students. NOW HOW IS THAT FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE?!?! Sounds more liberal to me.


Then her statement on the Iraq war...are you kidding me? Is she serious? That is a bold faced lie!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/21/iraq.hillary/
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 Posted: 10:10 AM EDT (1410 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said she is not sorry she voted for a resolution authorizing President Bush to take military action in Iraq despite the recent problems there but she does regret "the way the president used the authority."


Hillary Clinton Defends 2002 Iraq War Vote On Meet The Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/13/hillary-clinton-defends-2_n_81261.html
January 13, 2008 11:16 AM
This morning on Meet the Press, Hillary Clinton defended her 2002 vote for the Iraq war resolution, saying that she "thought it was a vote to put inspectors back in" so Saddam Hussein could not go unchecked. She insisted that she and others were "told by the White House personally" that this was the purpose of the resolution, and cited President Bush's assurances to defend her position.

Moderator Tim Russert pointed out that the title of the resolution was the "Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002." Clinton responded saying, "We can have this Jesuitical argument about what exactly was meant. But when Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution said, 'It was not a vote for war,' What I was told directly by the White House in response to my question, 'If you are given this authority, will you put the inspectors in and permit them to finish their job,' I was told that's exactly what we intended to do. "

Unbelievable! Sounds just like a Clinton!! Regret the day we get at least 4 more years of this!

-faz