Senate Minority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) criticized the Republican Party, including President George Bush and addressed his party’s future during a speech at Harvard Law School yesterday.
One of the main issues where Daschle clashed with Republicans is Bush’s current budget proposal. He called the president’s tax cut one “we simply can’t afford” because it is “based on projections” over the next 10 years.
“We will agree with Republicans when we can, we will compromise when possible, and we will fight when we must,” Daschle said.
He compared the Republican Party’s actions to driving a car.
“If you want to move the country forward, you put it in ‘D,’” Daschle said. “If you want to move it backwards, you put it in ‘R.’”
Daschle also challenged Bush’s tax plan last month at the American Legion Legislative Conference, saying it would be larger than the president’s anticipated $1.6 trillion cut and gives the wealthiest 1 percent of the country a 43 percent tax cut while ignoring middle-income Americans.
In a prepared statement on the Republican National Committee’s website, Republicans have responded to Democrats’ criticisms, saying “low- and middle-income families are the biggest winners under President Bush’s tax plan. The plan tears down the barriers that prevent these families from moving ahead and reaching their dreams.”
Addressing his party’s future, Daschle stressed that the looming 2002 midterm elections will be important, especially those in the Senate, which is currently split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.
Daschle praised the efforts of his party’s past leaders, including former Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Bill Clinton, whose goals, he said, have led to improved public education, civil rights, Medicare, social security and a cleaner environment.
He urged the Democratic students in attendance to “stay interested and stay involved.”
“We’re stronger together than we are separately,” said Daschle, adding he is “optimistic” about his party’s chances of gaining back the majority in Congress next year.
Daschle also commented on the recent presidential election, saying former Vice President Al Gore “handled himself extraordinarily graciously,” and there was “no question that people were disenfranchised.”
He praised the two-party system as the reason the United States has maintained stability over the years. Daschle said while everyone’s opinion needs to be heard, third and fourth parties can be “destabilizing” for America.
When a Harvard student asked him who would be the next Democratic nominee for president, Daschle jokingly dodged the question.
“There is an array of very qualified people,” he said to a room of laughs.
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