Shame on Hillary, Barack sets record straight

Senator Clinton today took a page out of her husband's playbook with an emotional outburst towards Senator Obama. She apparently took offense to two campaign mailers the Obama campaign sent to Ohio voters weeks ago. Now, suddenly, as the polls narrow in Ohio and draw dead even in Texas, she wants to cry foul.

Sorry Clinton camp, but considering the type of dirty tactics your campaign has participated in and the underhanded tactics of Clinton-related independent expenditures, you have no stake to this claim.

In addition, the Obama mail pieces were not even attacks, but rather truthful comparisons. The fact is Clinton’s healthcare plan, like that of Governor Schwarzenegger's, would hurt millions of low-income Americans. Mandating that everyone purchase insurance is not only a gift to insurance companies which they don't deserve, but it will force struggling families to purchase health plans they can't afford. And under the Clinton proposal, those who fail to purchase insurance because they can't afford it would have their wages garnished or liens placed on their homes. Americans need healthcare, not health insurance. Shame on Senator Clinton.

The second Obama mail piece compared their stances on NAFTA. Again, the fact is Hillary Clinton bragged about NAFTA as a major accomplishment of the last Clinton administration. Time has shown that it was a horrific failure at the expense of a million working families and the jobs they need and deserve. Shame on Senator Clinton.

Obama should send out a third mailer, which I am certain Camp Clinton will moan about: comparing their positions on assisting those living in poverty. Clintons are constantly boasting about dropping welfare rolls forty-six percent. On the surface, nearly seven million less people on welfare may sound positive; that is if there were seven million less people that needed it.

Clinton's “welfare reform” replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). TANF only punished recipients, especially those with children, if they failed to find work. Worst of all, even single mothers with special needs children, who had to stay home to provide care and who couldn’t also seek employment, were forced off welfare rolls.
So, while millions of Americans were off welfare, for most, little changed in their economic status. The result: the most vulnerable children in America have suffered. Shame, shame, shame.