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Presidential hopeful Graham slams Bush
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Bob Graham, D-Florida, campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sunday accused President Bush of being "reckless and irresponsible" with the economy and mistaken in his efforts to halt terrorism around the world. On the economy, Bush is "fundamentally wrong" to propose more tax cuts that disproportionately help the richest Americans, Graham said. "What this country needs is more money in the pockets of those Americans who will actually spend it," he said. Bush's 2001 tax cuts put the country "in a hole," trading $5 trillion of predicted surpluses two years ago for $2 trillion in deficits -- a situation that will become "desperate" as baby boomers begin to retire in the coming years, Graham said. After a trip to Ohio promoting the plan last week, Bush touted his proposed $550 billion tax cut in his weekly radio address. "With a robust package of at least $550 billion in across-the-board tax relief, we will help create more than a million new jobs" by the end of next year, Bush said in the Saturday address. Bush first proposed more than $700 billion in new tax cuts, including the elimination of the tax on stock dividends. The House and Senate trimmed the package to $550 billion. Graham said that if he is elected, he would "draw the line with those tax cuts already in place" and freeze the rest. "I think this administration has been reckless and irresponsible in handling our domestic economic affairs," Graham said. "And the first place to start the recovery process is to not dig the hole any deeper." Graham, a strong proponent of a balanced budget during the Clinton administration, acknowledged his plans would likely keep the country in deficit spending for five to 10 years, but said it was the Bush policies that had created that situation. Graham also said he found fault with Bush's efforts to halt terrorism. "I think they made a mistake," the former Florida governor told ABC's "This Week," referring to the Bush administration's rejection of his plan to give the president authority to go after Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, three organizations Graham calls the "A-list" of terrorist groups that operate largely from Syria. "They did not want that particular ball in their court," he said. Saying that those three organizations need to go, Graham proposed telling the Syrians they could no longer harbor terrorists and should resolve the situation immediately. "If they don't, then [the U.S.-led coalition that toppled the Taliban] will take care of it," he said. "The 'it' is not regime change; the 'it' is those terrorist organizations." Graham also blasted the administration's insistence the U.S.-led coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq would not allow an Islamic government to replace it. Any U.S. attempt to limit participation in Iraq's struggle toward democracy "demonstrates the kind of quagmire we're going to be in in Iraq," he said. Graham said the situation in Iraq is not for the faint of heart. "I would not pull out," he said, "but I would want to bring some other people in. I think we're making a mistake by not involving other countries" for their experience, skills and checkbooks. Graham accused the administration of having "virtually abandoned" the war on terrorism, and that Bush's focus on Iraq has allowed Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda to regroup even as many U.S. allies are still smarting over the lack of consensus that preceded the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "We have allowed our alliances, which are going to be absolutely critical, ... to disintegrate," he said. Regarding North Korea, Graham said he would not take military action "based on the facts today," but said he would pressure Pyongyang to comply with the international community over its nuclear program. "I'm surprised we're treating North Korea with such kid gloves," he said. "We went into Iraq on less ... We made a mistake early on by not engaging the North Koreans on a one-to-one relationship and allowed the situation to deteriorate. Now we're paying the price for that deterioration." The crisis erupted in October when Washington said North Korea had admitted to an active covert program to make highly enriched uranium for nuclear arms in addition to a plutonium program frozen under a 1994 pact with the United States. The United States has said it would pursue a diplomatic solution despite Pyongyang's disclosure during multilateral talks on the matter last week in Beijing that it had constructed a nuclear weapon. Bush said Thursday the United States would continue to work with Japan, South Korea, China and others "to say to the North Koreans and the world that we're not going to be threatened."
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