2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate: on Corporations


Barack Obama: Cap the farm subsidies for Fortune 500 companies

We’ve got folks in Manhattan and Fortune 500 companies who are getting farm subsidies, while family farms are getting squeezed out. This is something you hear about all across rural Iowa. I would cap those subsidies. We have to have a structure that are provides protection for farmers if a drought or collapse in market prices, but we have to take that money that is saved, invest in conservation, invest in organic and alternative crops, invest in nutrition programs. Through that process we cannot only save the land, but we can also improve the economic engines in a lot of these rural communities, and that is something that I’m absolutely committed to doing as president, but it’s going to require overcoming the excess influence of agribusiness lobbying There were elements of the [Senate farm bill] to replace traditional subsidies for certain crops and shift the money to conservation and nutrition and biofuels programs that did not make the changes I would have, so I would have voted against it.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic Debate Dec 13, 2007

Bill Richardson: Eliminate $73 billion in corporate welfare

There’s $73 billion in corporate welfare that needs to be eliminated. I think we all have to sacrifice, the Congress, too, and that means eliminating congressional earmarks. That means, also, having pay-as-you-go policies in our budget that, if somebody thinks of a new program or is going to cut a tax, we’ve got to make sure that it’s paid for. That’s what I would do as president.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate Dec 13, 2007

Joe Biden: We’ve yielded to corporate America on trade

Q: Given the WTO guidelines, could you actually restrict trade with China?

A: With the WTO guidelines, we could stop these [unsafe] products coming in now. This president doesn’t act. We have much more leverage on China than they have on us. The idea that a country with 800 million people in poverty has greater leverage over us is preposterous. We’ve yielded to corporate America. We’ve yielded to this president’s notion of what constitutes trade, and we’ve refused to enforce the laws that exist.

Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate Dec 13, 2007

  • The above quotations are from 2007 Democratic primary debate, sponsored by the Des Moines Register; Dec. 13, 2007; final debate before Iowa caucus.
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2016 Presidential contenders on Corporations:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
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