Sep 23, 2008 7:17 pm US/Eastern
Sen. Clinton: 'No Doubt' Obama Will Win
New York Democrat Says Taxpayers 'Could Be Left Holding The Bag' With $700 Billion Government Program
Suggests Country Look At Some Great Depression-Era Type Of Governmental Entity
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigns for Sen. Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University Aug. 21, 2008, in Boca Raton, Fla.
Marc Serota/Getty Images
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she worries that taxpayers could be left "holding the bag" with plans for a $700 billion government program to stabilize the country's distressed financial markets.
Interviewed on Tuesday morning on CBS's "The Early Show," she said she agrees that the situation is critical and that something must be done quickly. She said, "the house is on fire and we've got to call the fire department and put the fire out." But Clinton also said that Congress should not "give the Treasury a blank check" to straighten out the problem.
"What we also have to do is make sure that homeowners get some relief, that it's not just for the banks and the lenders," she said. Clinton added that "we also must begin to look at the root cause of this, which is these mortgages that people cannot afford."
The senator said she didn't think all responsibility for solving these problems should be vested in the Treasury Department, suggesting that "once we get through this immediate crisis," the country should look at some Great Depression-era type of governmental entity to deal with it.
"If we just turn this over to Treasury, I worry about what the outcome would be," she said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.
She blamed part of the problem on "predatory lending and subprime lending" in the housing market.
Clinton said Tuesday that Barack Obama is going to be elected the next president and that she has "no doubt" about it.
"Barack Obama is being advised by the same peopole who got us out of the ditch in 1993," she said. "I think our ticket is well-equipped for handling the mess that they're going to inherit. Let's make no mistake about it: this is going to be one of the most difficult presidential transitions."
Clinton also said that while she recognizes that race and gender play a role in the minds of voters as they make their presidential choices, she believes enough people want change from Republican policies to put Obama over the top in November.
On CBS's "The Early Show," she was asked what she thought about Republican Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy. She said she thought any woman is going to face certain issues and questions but that "the bottom line is who is on top of the ticket."
Clinton called Republican presidential nominee John McCain a friend, but said that he has a record of supporting deregulationof business.
"Barack Obama's going to win. No doubt ... if anybody looks at the mess we're in today," she said.
She also said that she thinks Obama is best suited to straighten out the country's economic problems.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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