Hotmail
Rivals tout spending cuts, unite on tax reform
Democrats meet Thursday with three weeks left before Iowa caucuses
 Chris Gannon / Getty Images Republican candidates for president gather on stage before the Republican debate Wednesday in Johnston, Iowa. |
Interactive |
|  |
Slide shows |
 AP World reacts to Obama’s victory From the U.S. president-elect’s ancestral homes in Kenya and Ireland to his namesake town in Japan, election fever grips the globe. |
Special coverage |
 | Discuss on Newsvine |
DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican presidential rivals called for deep cuts in federal spending Wednesday in a debate remarkably free of acrimony and agreed the reductions they seek need not require painful sacrifice by millions of Americans who rely on government services.
“The sacrifice we need from the American people is saying, ‘Let the programs go that don't work. Don't lobby for them forever,’ ” said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of nine GOP presidential hopefuls sharing an Iowa stage little more than three weeks before the state's caucuses provide the first test of the campaign.
Republicans running for president also called Wednesday for massive tax reform as they debated for the last time before the leadoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has vaulted to the front-running position, overtaking longtime leader Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, in a matter of weeks. As he has advanced, more scrutiny is being paid to his policy positions, especially his advocacy of a so-called fair tax, a national 23 percent sales tax that would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service.
While advisers to his rivals have suggested that Huckabee’s tax position could be used to paint him as outside the mainstream, some of his opponents spoke warmly of the idea Wednesday as they discussed the question of tax reform.
Rep. Duncan Hunter of California welcomed the “fair tax,” saying the idea “is a good one.”
So did Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, who called the income tax “archaic” and “a system that taxes productivity.”
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, endorsed a “flatter tax you could file on one form,” while Sen. John McCain of Arizona urged a simplification of the tax system.
“We’ve got to reform the tax code,” McCain said. “No one understands it.”
Besides Romney, several contenders also called for deep cuts in federal spending.
Giuliani called for across-the-board cuts of up to 15 percent, including reduced federal spending on health care. “Rather than relying on a nanny government, let’s rely on people to decide their own health care,” he said.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee was an exception on that question. “We’ve got to spend more for the military as a matter of fact, but we’ve got to look at Social Security and Medicare and do some things that won’t hurt anybody badly,” he said. Thompson, alone among the White House contenders in both parties, has called for steps to reduce the benefits promised to future retirees.
Huckabee in the crosshairs
After languishing in the low single digits in national and Iowa polls, Huckabee has gained ground not only in Iowa but also in South Carolina, another early voting state. He has even eroded Giuliani’s lead in nationwide polls.
The result has been an increase in testiness — Romney on Tuesday became the first candidate to assail another in a TV ad, hitting Huckabee for his position on immigration.
Romney and Huckabee had been engaged in an increasingly fierce battle, but it was Thompson who has dropped in polls, who launched the most frequent barbs, directing them mainly at Romney.
Thompson said he wished he were like Romney and didn’t have to worry about taxes. When Romney replied that he envied Thompson’s situation as a high-paid actor, Thompson shot back, “You’re getting to be a pretty good actor, actually.”
For the most part, Huckabee stayed in the background, answering specific questions with general statements that sought to cast him as a unifying leader. Asked what his first act would be upon taking office, Huckabee talked broadly about bringing the country together. At another point, he told his Republican rivals, “We need to quit fighting amongst ourselves.”
Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was also participating, as was commentator Alan Keyes, who all but hijacked the debate at times, squabbling with moderator Carolyn Washburn, editor of The Des Moines Register, and launching long orations on the need to return God to American life.
Washburn brought about a mini-revolt at one point when she asked all the candidates to raise their hands if they thought global warming was a serious threat caused by human behavior. “I’m not doing hand shows today,” said Thompson.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM THE DEBATES |
 The debates Section Front |
| Add The debates headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide