| 9:30: DeWayne Wickham asked a question on educational opportunities and the achievement gap.
Biden: The gap widens because the country doesn't give young, disadvantaged single mothers the support they need to nurture and raise children. He calls for enrollment in school at age 4.
Richardson: He is for a minimum wage for teachers, along with accountability. One out of two minorities don't make it through high school, and what is needed is afterschool programs. He touted full day kindergarten, something he offered in New Mexico.
Edwards: There is no single cause of poverty. When young minorities see no examples of hope in their neighborhood, in the poor schools, the cycle of poverty continues. He also calls for higher teacher pay, a raise in minimum wage and an attack on predatory lenders.
Obama: Early childhood education is essential. The shortage of teachers is a critical issue. He noted that we have No Child Left Behind, but we can't leave the funding behind to make it happen. Every child can learn if given the opportunity.
Kucinich: He says that the funds wasted on Iraq is money left out of the educational lives of the country's children. "Stop funding war."
Gravel: He mentioned how both the Democrats and the Republicans have failed on this front. 21 million Americans could have educational scholarships, 7.6 million teachers could be hired with the money squandered on Iraq.
Dodd: He mentions the legislation that he has backed in his years in the Senate that supported family issues, including Head Start. We have an obligation to give people a chance to succeed.
Clinton: It takes a village to raise a child, and the village has failed its children. She feels that education is the most important issue facing socioeconomically deprived citizens.
9:40: HIV/AIDS and its devastating effect on minority communities.
Richardson: We have to have efforts in the black community to educate on this issue
Edwards: noted the impact and spread of HIV, particularly as it affects black women, who are 20 times more at risk. He wants to fully fund a cure for AIDS, and need to ensure that Medicaid covers HIV medication.
Obama: he would add comprehensive education; he thankfully mentions the homophobia in the community that has a horrendous impact of silence and reticence to address HIV/AIDS. He wants to provide universal health care.
Kucinich: sex education is critical; the fact that 40 million people have no health insurance; it's time to take for-profit insurance companies and put them out of business..
Gravel: He mentions the war on drugs again. He agrees on universal health care and sex education. He rambles quite a bit here.
Dodd: School-based clinics where children can get advice on sex education; every citizen has an obligation to educate our children, on more than HIV/AIDS. Infant mortality is 2.5 times higher in the black community, and all health issues have an impact on lives in this community.
Clinton: If HIV/AIDS were the number one cause of death for white women 18-25, more would be done about this problem. This drew a large round of applause. She called for support for the Ryan White provision and a return to the urgency to the issue that happened in the 90s.
Biden: He said there is a lack of honesty here; he talked about his forays into the black neighborhoods in Delaware talking to black men about wearing condoms. He treads into insane territory by rambling and talking about getting tested for HIV, and talked about Barack Obama also getting tested as well (!). The reaction shot of Al Sharpton was priceless.
9:50: Do you agree that the rich are paying their fair share of taxes?
Edwards: the people that do well have an obligation to give back. He calls for Bush's tax cut to be rolled back to pay for universal health care.
Obama: are we going to make the necessary investments in our society. People want fairness. He talked about the disparity exposed by Katrina.
Kucinich: he talked about the number of corporations relocating offshore to avoid paying taxes.
Gravel: nothing is going to change about our tax system based on what he's heard on the stage tonight. He calls for a national sales tax.
Dodd: He recalled the Clinton era, where the tax system was more fair and the budget was in balance.
Clinton: She obviously refers to the success of the economy during her husband's tenure. She calls for a change in the tax system to return it to a more balanced, fair system.
Biden: He would eliminate the tax cut for the wealthy. "The Republicans believe the wealthy know better."
Richardson: We have to rebuild the economy and take the tax cuts for the rich and turn those into middle class tax cuts, have sales tax holidays for technology related concerns. Globalization must work for the middle class; the tax code must be simplified and work to stimulate the economy.
10:00: Overrepresentation of blacks in prisons/ the criminal justice system.
Obama: He cites his work at the state level on racial profiling.
Kucinich: He wants to end mandatory minimums and wants to end the federal death penalty because of the discrimination that occurs.
Gravel: Is it a surprise that if you don't have money you don't receive justice? It's politics as usual.
Dodd: Mandatory minimums have been a disaster; he talked about equalizing the criminal justice systems regarding treatment regarding crack vs. powder cocaine.
Clinton: Again, mandatory minimums need to go. She calls attention to the inequal treatment in Bush's Justice Dept.
Biden: eliminate disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Have states apply the law equally.
Richardson: 68% of people in prison are minorities. That is wrong, and a strategy is needed to deal with poverty and to establish a living wage. Allow them to join a union.
Edwards: agreed with above suggestions. If you're black you're more likely to be charged, convicted and incarcerated and that is a system that isn't working.
10:10: Would they support a federal law guaranteeing citizens displaced by Katrina to be able to return to New Orleans?
Kucinich: people should be able to return and rebuild.
Dodd: Yes, he wants to be able to support their ability to resettle and get their lives back together.
Clinton: We need to get hospitals, fire departments and police built back up in NOLA. There's nothing to return to; it's not only the levees that need to be adddresed, it's the entire infrastructure.
Biden: We simply need to pay to rebuild this, and we should guarantee the reconstruction.
Richardson: He would support the Katrina Recovery Act. He said that it was a miserable response to the disaster, and that FEMA needs to be directly under the president, and make sure the insurance companies are responsible.
Edwards: He recalled the launch of his campaign from NOLA. As president he will appoint a person to directly handle the rebuilding of the Gulf. People need jobs and to rebuild.
Obama: He called out Halliburton and the corporations that are profitting from the rebuilding instead of the locals who need the jobs is an outrage. We need to have one person in charge and a president who understands the reality that the people in NOLA were neglected long before Katrina.
10:15: Outsourcing of U.S. jobs.
Gravel: Our problem is the corporations and how they run.
Dodd: Valuable jobs are being exported and he has worked on legislation to eliminate outsourcing.
Clinton: she has tried to stem the tide as senator, she wants enforceable trade standards.
Richardson: We need to address the problem by educating our population to participate in the new economy. He wants to invest in high-tech and health industries.
Edwards: he commented on how he saw his father's mill closed due to the competition from abroad. We need trade agreements that will be enforced and eliminate tax breaks for corporations that take business overseas.
Obama: there was never a federal effort to retrain workers when plants closed in Chicago. We have to have an intentional strategy to reinvest in communities hurt by outsourcing.
Kucinich: he wants to cancel NAFTA and unfavorable agreements that hurt Americans.
10:20: Darfur genocide and what the U.S. has not done to intervene. What does it say about our claim to moral leadership?
Dodd: The U.S. should be able to take unilateral action here and to build coalitions to respond to Darfur.
Clinton: Move the peacekeepers into Sudan as soon as possible. There needs to be airlift and logistical support, as well as a no-fly zone there.
Biden: He has urged for three years to do something. The country has stood by and watched this carnage, that no-fly zone should have happened two years ago. [he's had way too much caffeine!]
Richardson: No fly zone, economic sanctions by Europeans. Stop the massive numbers of rapes. We shouldn't forget Africa.
Edwards: No fly zone, security forces on the ground. The bigger question is how the U.S. establishes itself as a force for good in the world post-Iraq.
Obama: No fly zone, protective forces. We need to look at Africa and what trade opportunities are there, what investments can be made. That has been missing in this White House. The children there do not need to live in violence and chaos.
Kucinich: It's time to stop letting our corporations exploit Africa.
"We have to have a president with moral judgment. Most of the people on this stage with me do not have that judgment and have proven it by the simple fact of what they've done (oh, he's over the top gone now)."
Whew. I could barely keep up. That's it for the forum. It was fast moving and well done. The candidates will be over to spin soon (I'll open another post). |
