Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labor, also had some comments to make on the Clinton assault:
I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the stridency and inaccuracy of charges in Iowa -- especially coming from my old friend. While I’m as hard-boiled as they come about what’s said in campaigns, I just don’t think Dems should stoop to this. First, HRC attacked O's plan for keep Social Security solvent. Social Security doesn’t need a whole lot to keep it going – it’s in far better shape than Medicare – but everyone who’s looked at it agrees it will need bolstering (I was a trustee of the Social Security Trust Fund ten years ago, and I can vouch for this). Obama wants to do it by lifting the cap on the percent of income subject to Social Security payroll taxes, which strikes me as sensible. That cap is now close to $98,000 (it’s indexed), and the result is highly regressive. (Bill Gates satisfies his yearly Social Security obligations a few minutes past midnight on January 1 every year.) The cap doesn’t have to be lifted all that much to keep Social Security solvent – maybe to $115,00. That’s a progressive solution to the problem. HRC wants to refer Social Security to a commission. That's avoiding the issue, and it's irresponsible: A commission will likely call either for raising the retirement age (that’s what Greenspan’s Social Security commission came up with in the 1980s) or increasing the payroll tax on all Americans. So when HRC charges that Obama’s plan would “raise taxes” and her plan wouldn’t, she’s simply not telling the truth.
I’m equally concerned about her attack on his health care plan. She says his would insure fewer people than hers. I’ve compared the two plans in detail. Both of them are big advances over what we have now. But in my view Obama’s would insure more people, not fewer, than HRC’s.
Obama received an endorsement today from John Adams, Brigadier General, US Army (retired), former Deputy United States Military Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Barack Obama’s ability to listen and inspire will allow him to shape a new domestic strategy of working together as Americans to safeguard our constitutional liberties and secure the blessings of prosperity for all our citizens. His sound judgment and ability to make tough choices under pressure will help him to shape a new international strategy of cooperating with our friends abroad to enhance global peace and security. We need his vision and integrity to address America's domestic and international challenges,” Adams said in a statement released by the campaign.
Other high-ranking military retirees who have endorsed Obama are Richard Danzig, 71st Secretary of the Navy; Major General Scott Gration, U.S. Air Force (Ret) and General Merrill “Tony” McPeak; Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force (1990-1994).
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