Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich with Wolf Blitzer

“ We should simply not provide any bill at all. It's one thing to say you don't have the votes. It's another thing not to even offer a bill and tell the president he has the money now that's in the pipeline to bring the troops home.
Now, with respect to this war, this war has degraded our service ability, and we need to have certainly a strong army, but I believe that peace is the way we reflect our strength. So I want to see an American military that will be a strong peacekeeping force, not one that is being misused, like the one in this administration -- misuses our military. ”

“ We don't need, Joe -- with all due respect -- another military involvement. Iraq is enough. And we must get out of Iraq.
What we need to do is move forward with the toughest options. Am I for a no-fly zone? Yes. I think we need strong economic sanctions. And we lack the moral authority to build international coalitions, to fight genocide in Darfur. We should shut down -- I would as first day as president, I would shut down Guantanamo. ”

“ We have people telling everybody: Just stop the war, Congress. We have 50 votes. We're busting our neck every single day. So I respect it.
But look, I cannot -- as long as there is a single troop in Iraq that I know if I take action by funding them, I increase the prospect they will live or not be injured -- I cannot and will not vote no to fund them.
BLITZER: Senator Clinton, you voted in favor of every funding for the U.S. troops since the start of the war until now. And some are accusing you and some others of playing politics with the lives of the troops. ”

“ One of the things that we're going to have to do is to return to that recognition that we can't simply lead with our military. The strength of our military has to be matched with the power of our diplomacy, the strength of our alliances.
That's how we are going to deal with the crisis in the Middle East. That's how we're going to end a genocide in Darfur, and I think that President Clinton's vision of our interdependence globally is something, and obviously Senator Clinton may have something to say about how I use Bill Clinton, so in fairness she should be able to respond. ”

“ Congressman Kucinich, if you were president of the United States and the intelligence community said to you, "We know where Osama bin Laden is. He's in Pakistan. We've got the specific target. But he's only going to be there for 20 minutes," you've got to give the order yes or no to take him out with a Hellfire missile, but it's going to kill some innocent civilians at the same time: What would be your decision?
KUCINICH: I don't think that a president of the United States who believes in peace and who wants to create peace in the world is going to be using assassination as a tool. ”

“ And I think one of the things we have seen, during the course of the Bush administration, is America is not for any possible kind of democracy, we're for democracies that respect the rights of minorities, that actually respect civil rights and individual liberties. ”

“ And the American people should know that with half the bankruptcies in the country connected to people not being able to pay their doctor bills or hospital bills, premiums, co-pays and deductibles are going so far through the roof, 46 million Americans with no health care, another 50 million underinsured, there is only one way to get health care coverage for all Americans. ”

“ They ought to be pro-growth. And they ought to be responsible.
BLITZER: Senator...
DODD: That's not happening when you have earmarks year-in and year-out and not having the kind of influence that would eliminate them except in those rare circumstances where you may need to have them.
BLITZER: Is it time to do away with these earmarks?
GRAVEL: Totally, totally. It's abominable, and the only way you're going to get rid of it is to give the president the line-item veto. Of course, they're not going to give the president a line-item veto. What we need to do is change the entire tax structure. ”

“ KUCINICH: I'm saying that we should not be borrowing money from China to run a war in Iraq. We need to change our spending policies in many ways.
First of all, stop war. Most of the people on this stage voted consistently to fund a war we should have never gotten into in the first place.
Change our trade laws. We need to get out of NAFTA and the WTO and go back to bilateral trade, conditioned on worker's rights, human rights and the environment and stop driving an $800 billion trade deficit.
We need to have health care for all, all Americans, in a not-for- profit health care system. ”

“ DENNIS KUCINICH: Benjamin Franklin once said that those who would give up their essential liberties to achieve a sense of security deserve neither.
The Patriot Act has undermined civil rights in this country. And as president of the United States, one of my first acts in office will be to move forward to have the Justice Department overturn the Patriot Act as unconstitutional.
We have to remember that 9/11 led us down a cul de sac. Americans need to reconnect with our deepest sense of self here, Wolf. ”

“ DODD: Well, listen, this is a -- there's not a person in this audience or who's watching this program who wouldn't tell you that they've encountered the problems of the health care system in this country.
It is shameful. We rank 42nd in infant mortality in the United States worldwide. We rank 45th in life expectancy.
It is shameful that in the 21st century we have 47 million of our fellow citizens without health care coverage; 9 million children. And the number's growing every single day. ”

“ What would you do right now to reduce the price of gasoline?
DODD: Well, what we've offered already, in fact, and that is, of course, we ought to be saying here that when the price of a barrel of oil gets beyond $40 a barrel, where there's plenty of profit here, that those dollars ought to be returned to the consumers in a rebate or plowed back into the research that would allow us to develop alternative technologies.
But the real way to get away from this here, our dependency on that kind of fuel is causing us serious problems across the board. ”

“ But the main disagreement with John and I is John believes that we have to have mandatory insurance for everyone in order to have universal health care.
My belief is that most families want health care but they can't afford it. And so my emphasis is on driving down the costs, taking on the insurance companies, making sure that they are limited in the ability to extract profits and deny coverage; that we make sure the drug companies have to do what's right by their patients instead of simply hording their profits. ”

“ No one's going to be elected president, ought to be president that's not going to have as their primary priority keeping us safe and secure. That is the principal responsibility of an American president. ”

“ All during the Cold War, we always talked to the Soviet Union.
They had missiles pointed at us. They had leaders who said they would bury us. They waged wars around the world. We never stopped talking.
In my administration, diplomacy, patient, careful diplomacy, the kind of diplomacy that Bill Richardson did for my husband, that really gets people to stay with it over time. Are you always going to get good results? No. But you've got to start the process.
However, we still have to make it clear that Iran having a nuclear weapon is absolutely unacceptable. ”

“ Senator Clinton, you've been involved in this issue -- as all of us remember -- for a long time.
What do you think of Senator Obama's plan?
CLINTON: Well, I'm thrilled that universal health care is back on the national agenda. You know, as we remember, back in '93 and '94 we tried to come forward with a plan. We weren't successful. I have the scars to show for that experience.
But I am convinced that now when the Democrats all are coming forward saying, "This has to be a national goal," we then can try to get the political will.
The most important thing is not the plan. ”

“ Under my health care plan, if you have served this country -- enlisted, a veteran -- I would give you under my health care plan, your husband, a hero's health card so that your husband could get health care anywhere they want, with any doctor, with any hospital.
Our system right now, our V.A. system, is good, but we have to offer our veterans that choice. Some have to go 150 miles, especially in rural areas. ”

“ RICHARDSON: We don't want to create a permanent underclass in those workers.
BLITZER: Senator Biden, let me let you weigh in. You voted last year to support this immigration legislation, including the construction of an approximately 700-mile fence along the border between the United States and Mexico.
Governor Richardson doesn't think there needs to be such a fence. Why is he wrong?
BIDEN: Well, he's not wrong. There doesn't need to be a 700- mile fence. But there does need -- look, we ought to start -- we all love this phrase: Start talking truth to power. ”

“ But, Senator Obama, you want to increase the size of the U.S. military by almost 100,000 troops. That's going to cost billions and billions of dollars.
What do you say to Congressman Kucinich, who says he wants to cut the size of the U.S. military?
OBAMA: Well, keep in mind that there's a difference between the Pentagon budget and the size of the military. So it may be that, for example, there are weapons systems that Dennis and I would agree are outmoded relics of the Cold War. ”

“ We hear an awful lot about new spending -- all wonderful-sounding programs -- with the answer for funding being elimination of tax cuts that were geared toward the rich. And I was wondering what the definition of rich is on the part of the candidates, but using, perhaps, an income level.
BLITZER: Senator Obama, what is a definition of rich?
OBAMA: Well, the definition that I'm using with respect to paying for my health care plan is those making over $250,000 a year. ”

“ Keep in mind that all we're talking about is going back to the tax levels, the marginal tax rates that existed when Bill Clinton was in office. So we're not talking about going back to huge marginal rates.
But you tell a larger story that I hear as I travel all across the country. And that is that folks are feeling hit from all sides. They're trying to save for the next generation's education. They're trying to save for their own retirement. In some cases, they're looking after an aging parent. Gas prices are hitting them. ”

“ MAZER: A number of the candidates have talked about alliance- building. I want to ask about a specific country. The U.S. has had close relations with Pakistan as part of the war in Afghanistan and part of the war on terror.
How do you reconcile our security interests with Pakistan with our interest in promoting liberal democracy? Pakistan is not a democratic country.
BLITZER: Let's ask -- let's throw that question to Senator Clinton.
CLINTON: Well, it's a really important question, because we have been supporting Pakistan through President Musharraf now for a number of years. ”

“ But, Senator Edwards, where, if at all, do you disagree with any of your Democratic colleagues -- Democratic candidates -- on this issue of the troops, the funding of the war, how to get out?
EDWARDS: Well, I think it's the difference between leading and following.
I think Hillary's right. All of us do want to end this war. But I have made very clear from the outset that the way to end the war is for the Congress to use its constitutional authority to fund. They should send a bill to the president with a timetable for withdrawal, which they did. ”

“ Governor Richardson, for example, says that you can fund health care meaningfully without raising taxes. Senator Clinton has said that she's not prepared to say she will raises taxes to reform health care. Your plan does raise some taxes to fund your universal health care program.
So I am wondering: From your perspective, are they being honest about the true costs of universal health care in America?
EDWARDS: Let me say, first, I think it's a very healthy thing that we have Democrats coming out with health care plans. This country's health care system is completely dysfunctional. ”

“ I've been a long-time supporter -- offered the first, one of the first pay-as-you-go budgets back some 23 years ago in the United States Senate -- the question that came up earlier about specific policies and ideas.
I think, with rare exceptions you ought to be able to have accounting for either the tax cut or the spending program and pay for them.
We've gone on too long allowing for these things to build and grow, and the deficits are a problem. Dennis is right: $2.2 trillion of public debt being held outside the country. ”

“ One thing that I want to talk about with respect to both Pakistan and the various problems in the region, including Iran: Our presence in Iraq is weakening our capacity to deal with these issues and fanning anti-American sentiment in such a way that it makes it more difficult for Musharraf to work with us effectively.
If people in Pakistan believe that the U.S. is an occupying force, it makes us more subject to the kinds of difficulties that we're seeing in Pakistan today. ”

“ What I did not count on, and what none of us did who voted to give the president authority, is that he had no intention to allow the inspectors to finish their job.
Now, we can argue about the past, or we can answer the question you asked about the National Guard. Our troops did the job they were asked to do. They got rid of Saddam Hussein. They conducted the search for weapons of mass destruction. They gave the Iraqi people a chance for elections and to have a government. It is the Iraqis who have failed to take advantage of that opportunity. ”

“ If we do those things, then I believe that we can drive down the costs for families. In fact, we've got very conservative, credible estimates that say we can save families that do have health insurance about a $1,000 a year. And we can also make sure that we provide coverage for everybody else. And we do provide mandatory health care for children. ”

“ If we grow the economy 1.8 percent instead of the 1.3, the solvency of Social Security in the year 2045 would be resolved.
And I would be a president who would give incentives to companies that bring jobs over the prevailing wage, rural tax credits...
BLITZER: Thank you.
RICHARDSON: ... ways that we help the economy grow in the technology sector.
BLITZER: Thank you, Governor.
Congressman Kucinich, you know the Republicans will say what they're hearing, by and large, tonight is more Democrats suggesting raise taxes, raise spending, more of the same, the big tax, big spending party. ”