Clinton: Economy Is "In a Very Dangerous Period"
WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton warned this morning that when it comes to the state of the economy, "we are in the soup."
"I cannot stress to you enough -- we are in a very dangerous period in the economy," Clinton said following a speech in Washington this morning.
She said the recent financial troubles of Bear Stearns and the sub-prime mortgage crisis could be linked the actions to the Bush administration, claiming that their relations with oil-producing countries and the amount of money spent on the Iraq war are affecting the market.
"I personally believe if the President of the United States stood up today and said we've had it -- I may have been an oil man, but we cannot continue to rely on the oil companies and oil producing countries…I am going to work with Congress, I am going to take things off the shelf, I am going to be willing to move much more rapidly towards energy independence -- you would see the price drop."
Clinton made her statements about the financial market after she delivered what her campaign called a "major policy address" on the war in Iraq. She made her speech about the Iraq war in a black and green scarf with a print of shamrocks to honor St. Patrick's Day.
"One of the reasons why we must end the war in Iraq is that we can't afford it," said Clinton.
"We have to have a sense of collaboration and urgency about going forward," said Clinton. "In these times of stress and uncertainty, we need to be vigilant, to do everything in our power to maintain confidence in our financial system."
Clinton used her policy address on Iraq to makes contrasts with both her Democratic and Republican opponents in the race for the White House.
"Senator Obama holds up his original opposition to the war on the campaign trail," said Clinton. "But he didn't start working aggressively to end the war until he started running for president."
Turning to John McCain, Clinton said "He's willing to keep this war going for 100 years. You can count on him to do that."
McCain's communications director Jill Hazelbaker called Clinton's words "intellectually dishonest" and said McCain has described "a post-war scenario, not a hundred year war, when he suggested that the American people could support maintaining a military presence in Iraq."
Later today, Clinton attends the swearing in of David Paterson as New York's new governor. Tomorrow, she campaigns in Philadelphia.