Joe Biden accuses Democrat rivals of trying to bankrupt US
Joe Biden accused Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren of threatening to bankrupt the US with their free spending policies.
Democrat presidential frontrunner Joe Biden has launched a scathing attack on his main rivals, accusing Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren of threatening to bankrupt the country with their free spending policies.
In a tense and often combative debate between the ten Democrat frontrunners in Houston, candidates clashed on their visions for universal health care, gun control, immigration and trade.
While the candidates agreed that their common cause was to defeat Donald Trump, the debate only served to highlight the sharp differences between the liberal and moderate Democrat candidates.
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The most stark differences were on the key issue of health care where the 76-year-old Biden, who is leading in the polls, launched his most direct attack yet on the uncosted “medicare for all” health care promises of Senators Warren and Sanders.
“My plan costs a lot,” said Mr Biden who is advocating an expansion of the existing Affordable Care Act that he helped to broker when he was vice president to Barack Obama. “But it doesn’t cost $30 trillion. That’s twice the entire federal budget before it exists now. How will we pay for it? I want to hear. (Warren) has not said how she’ll pay for it and (Sanders) only gets about half way there. I lay out how I can pay for it and how I can get it done and why it’s better.”
Senator Sanders, who is equal second with Senator Warren in the polls, hit back, saying that Medicare for all — America’s first universal health care plan — would be a cheaper option for all Americans.
“Let us be clear Joe, in the USA. we’re spending twice as much per capita on health care as the Canadians or any other country on Earth,” Senator Sanders said.
“Every study shows Medicare for all is the most cost effective approach,” he said. “I wrote the damn bill and intend to eliminate all out of pocket expenses, all deductibles and co-payments, nobody in America will pay more.”
Mr Biden struck back saying: “For a socialist you’ve got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do.”
On gun control, the candidates all supported a ban on assault weapons but were divided as to whether there should be mandatory buybacks of such weapons.
On immigration and climate change, each was roundly critical of the Trump administration’s hardline approach to refugees and its policies on climate change but did not strongly attack each other on their respective polices.
Many of the more minor candidates tried to create a ‘break-out moment’ to attract attention and fuel their flagging campaigns.
Former Obama housing secretary Julian Castro launched an unsubtle attack on Mr Biden’s age, accusing him of “forgetting what you said two minutes ago” about an aspect of his health care plan.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang made the bizarre offer to randomly select ten families from all over the country and give them $1,000 a month as part of his pilot program to give every American $1000 a month under a universal basic income plan.
On trade, the candidates were critical of China for its trade policies including its theft of intellectual property and its unequal market access but they were equally critical of Mr Trump’s tariff war with Beijing without proposing alternative solutions.
The debate, the third since the start of the presidential campaign, was the first time that all four frontrunners — Mr Biden, and Senators Sander, Warren and Kamala Harris were on stage together.
The debate had a dramatic moment when a group of protesters started yelling just as Mr Biden was about to talk about the death of his son Beau from cancer, in response to a question about his biggest setback in life. After the protesters were ejected, Mr Biden said losing his son to illness — the reason why he did not stand for president in 2016 — had helped him to find purpose which was why he was now choosing to run.
The candidates will face a fourth debate next month, but it will be a major challenge for any candidate beyond the three frontrunners — Biden, Warren and Sanders — to make a late surge with the first Democratic caucus in Iowa less than five months away.
Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia
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