Sen. Edwards: GOP Irresponsible

By Will Lester
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 30, 2002; 11:21 AM

NEW YORK –– Sen. John Edwards told centrist Democrats Tuesday that fiscal responsibility has vanished from the government since Republicans claimed the White House from the Clinton administration.

"Washington can't ask businesses to do more unless we live up to our responsibilities as well," the North Carolina senator said. "We can't just complain about Enron's books. We have a duty to put our own books in order."

Edwards and House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt were addressing the Democratic Leadership Council Tuesday.

Edwards said "the economy is fundamentally strong" and will recover well with the right policies. But the bigger question, he said, is whether people have faith "that their hard work means something, their hard-earned tax dollars go for something."

During this three-day meeting, Democratic presidential hopefuls are making their case to centrist Democrats on how they would frame the debate on the economy.

Top Democrats have contrasted the booming stock market, federal surpluses and job growth of the roaring 1990s with the tax cuts, volatile stocks and shrinking economy since Bill Clinton left office.

"In just eighteen months, this administration has unraveled the fiscal discipline it took us eight years to build," Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman told the Democratic Leadership Council's annual policy meeting.

Gephardt planned to talk to the group about his efforts to bridge the gap between the pro-business DLC and Democrats like himself who work closely with unions.

"If we learned anything in the '90s, it was that we do better by avoiding false choices – helping workers vs. boosting business, environment vs. growth, fiscal responsibility vs. prosperity, free vs. fair trade," Gephardt said in remarks prepared for the DLC meeting. "In the information age, we know that union members benefit when businesses grow and interest rates stay low. We know that companies prosper when employees have the tools they need to build better lives."

And he compared Bush to his father, the former president, who he said didn't talk about the nation's economic troubles and didn't act on them in losing the 1992 presidential election to Clinton.

"George W. Bush seems to know things aren't working. So he talks about it and talks about it and talks about it. But he doesn't do anything about it," Gephardt, D-Mo., said.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry also spoke to the group Monday.

"There is no economic leadership coming from the White House," Daschle said. "If they won't lead, Democrats will."

"In the span of a year, this administration has turned fiscal responsibility on its ear," said Kerry, "turning a budget surplus into a budget with endless deficits spurred on by an irresponsible and unfairly structured tax cut."

Republican national chairman Marc Racicot said the Democrats' criticism rang hollow coming from senators who had failed to pass a budget during a time of war and economic uncertainty. He described that failure as "an abdication of responsibility and failure of leadership."

DLC members call themselves New Democrats, who believe in blending a pro-business approach with traditional Democratic values. They say it's fair to criticize the Bush administration for being too closely allied with big business.

But some were still grumbling about an economic populist tone that crept into the presidential campaign of Gore, who did not attend the event.

"We're not into class resentment and warfare," said Al From, the group's founder and chief executive. "We've been pretty clear what we think about 'the people vs. the powerful.'"

DLC Chairman Evan Bayh, a senator from Indiana, said populist rhetoric "tends to alienate swing voters."

From said he can't tell what approach Gore might take in a new campaign based on his speeches so far this year. Gore is undecided whether he will run again.

Gore aide Jano Cabrera said Monday the former vice president's campaign had embraced the same values as the New Democrats.

"They have a theory in search of the facts," Cabrera said of Gore's critics in the group. "The fact is that Al Gore's message won more votes than any other Democratic candidate in the history of the country."