Dean Would Limit Spending to Fix Budget
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By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Howard Dean said he would like to
balance the budget in his first term even if it means limiting spending on
domestic programs dear to Democrats.
But if he beats nine other Democrats to
capture the nomination and then ousts
President Bush , Dean said
he might have to keep the budget in the red
beyond four years to fund his plan for mass
transit, renewable energy, road construction,
broadband telecommunications and school
building.
"I am determined to get rid of the deficit," Dean said in an hourlong
interview with reporters and editors from The Associated Press. Later he
added, "I am willing to run a deficit longer than I'd like to in order to
create jobs."
Dean has yet to release his economic plan, but disclosed some
elements during the interview. He said he and his advisers are still
deciding whether he can pledge to bring government spending into black
by 2008.
"That's an internal debate we are having," Dean said. "I'd like to do that.
The economists I'm working with think that is going to be very tough."
The front-running candidate often boasts that he had a record of
balancing the budget while he was Vermont governor. He holds that
record up as part of his argument that he is not too liberal to beat Bush.
In 1995, he said he supported a balanced-budget amendment, but now
says he would rather not have one so he can have flexibility if in the
White House.
"So you can put me down as waffling on the balanced budget
amendment," he joked in the Friday interview. "I'm already down as
waffling on that one. I've waffled before, I'll waffle again."
Dean said he would not cut military spending in his quest to balance the
budget. He also would increase spending for health insurance, special
education and grants for urban revitalization.
Other than that, "everything is on the table," he said, suggesting he may
be willing to hold spending on some programs, such as veterans affairs.
"You do not have to make cuts to balance the budget," he explained.
"What you have to do is restrain spending."
Dean's failure to list Medicaid among the programs he would protect
drew criticism from rival Dick Gephardt who said the
answer to the nation's budget problems is not to cut Medicaid.
Dean insisted that Bush's tax cuts have not benefited the middle class
because they have been offset by the increasing cost of college tuition
and higher property taxes. Asked about people who do not own homes
or send their children to college, he acknowledged that some people
have gotten a tax cut.
"Is that true for 100 percent of the middle class? No. There's some
percentage of people it's not true for but a vast majority of middle-class
people in this country it is absolutely true" that they did not get a tax
cut.
When asked about his reputation for having a temper, he replied: "I have
a sense of righteous indignation at times. I really try, but I don't like it
when people bend the truth or make stuff up."
The interview came days before Tuesday's deadline for candidates to
report their fund-raising totals since July 1. Campaign officials said Dean
had raised about $12.5 million through Sunday and hoped to report a
total of $15 million by Tuesday. That would be two to three times as
much as any of the other candidates is expected to report.
Dean showed great affection for former President Clinton , saying that Clinton "had more political talent in his little finger
than anybody since Franklin Roosevelt."
On foreign policy, Dean said one of his first goals as
president would be to restore relations with France,
Germany and other nations angered by the U.S.-led
war in Iraq .
"I think it can be done reasonably quickly. There are
some honest differences of opinion we're going to
have with other countries," he said. "The trick is not
to make it personal.'
Dean said Bush fell into that trap, a "dreadful
mistake."
Making up with Germany will be easier than with
the French, he said, "because of the traditional
interesting relationship going all the way back to
(former French President Charles) DeGaulle between
the French and the United States."
On missile defense, Dean said he would keep part of
the Bush administration's missile defense program
but end construction of interceptor missile sites at
Fort Greely, Alaska.
The interceptors, strongly backed by Bush, would be
designed to smash into a missile headed toward the
United States while the warhead was traveling
through space.
"We're not going to develop things that aren't going
to work, and the majority of the tests have failed for
the intercept phase," Dean said.
"I would continue part of it - the boost phase part,
which we are going to need if the North Koreans
really do finally develop a nuclear capacity to attack
the United States or other countries," Dean said.
Dean's position is consistent with Clinton's. Before
leaving office, Clinton decided that the United States
would not begin construction in Alaska although
research in ground-based interceptor would
continue. Some Democrats want to scrap the entire
missile-defense program, which costs tens of billions
of dollars.
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On the Net:
Howard Dean: deanforamerica.com |
