On No Child Left Behind, Obama compares Edwards & Clinton to Bush.

[Karmadillo]

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/11/obama_clinton_and_edwards_left.html

Obama: Clinton and Edwards left the money behind
by Christi Parsons

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) often tells voters that the problem with the “No Child Left Behind” effort to improve public schools is that George Bush “left the money behind.”

But in a policy speech on Tuesday, Obama added two of his rivals for the Democratic nomination for president to the list of culprits – immediately inspiring them to point the finger back in his direction.

In a speech unveiling his $18 billion plan to improve public schools, Obama accused Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina of making a “serious mistake” in not voting for a measure in 2003 to require full funding of the program.

"It's pretty popular to bash No Child Left Behind out on the campaign trail, but when it was being debated in Congress four years ago, my colleague Dick Durbin offered a chance to vote so that the law couldn't be enforced unless it was fully funded," Obama said. "A lot of senators, including Senator Edwards and Senator Clinton, passed on that chance. And I believe that was a serious mistake."

But aides to the two Democrats noted that, as a member of the Illinois Senate, Obama voted to implement it at the state level without a requirement for full funding. And both camps pointed out other instances in which their candidates supported full funding of the law.

Obama left out the “inconvenient fact,” said Edwards spokesman Chris Kofinis, “that he supported No Child Left Behind as an Illinois state senator before he opposed it as a presidential candidate.”

more...

[davidinalameda]

1. I really want to like Obama but

when he pulls stuff like this, it just shows that he's not ready to be president

hell, I'd have trouble voting for him for anything

[msongs]

2. dear mr oprahbama, the best choice is to GET RID of NCLB and start over nt

[Karmadillo]

3. I guess he thinks there are more points to be scored attacking fellow Democrats.

nt

[jefferson_dem]

6. Well...do you think you score "more points" by *constantly* attacking a Democratic candidate?

One in particular. :shrug:

[Karmadillo]

13. We get points here? Cool.

nt

[Evergreen Emerald]

4. with all of the times he has been caught "fudging" his record

how can people believe in his honesty?

[ClarkUSA]

8. WTH are you talking about now? More Hillaryworld BS? Links?

By the way, Iowans believe Obama is more than twice as honest as Her Royal Clintonness. With good reason.

[Evergreen Emerald]

12. That is the point

he fudges his record and yet people buy the propaganda repeated again and again without checking the facts. The media is dangerous, I think because we have grown up trusting the news to fight for the truth. And they are not. So, when people believe that he is the most honest candidate, I am troubled that no one actually checks but rather just believes.


You sound so so very very surprised that I would suggest that Obama has fudged his record. I find your ignorance on the subject surprising given the amount of time you spend on DU, I am certain you have heard about his record compared to what he says.

[ClarkUSA]

14. No facts, no links, just fugly accusations. You are swift boating Obama then?

I guess Clinton is your ethical role model for all things political. Hillaryworlders never let facts get in their way, do they?

[Evergreen Emerald]

16. please

stop playing stupid

Facts: social security / the Iraq war / no child left behind.

you know this as well as I do

[ClarkUSA]

17. Still no links? Only your own totally unbiased Hillaryworlder opinions?

Sorry, I live in a fact-based universe. Unlike those who think repeating swift boating accusations ARE facts.

Who's acting stupid now?

[Evergreen Emerald]

18. swift boating accusations?

Are you telling me that you are backing a candidate without knowing his record? Really?

[ClarkUSA]

19. Why do you support an unqualified, corrupt, lying, warmongering Bush-Cheney Democrat?

That's what I'd like to know. It's a mystery to many of us here at DU how anyone could.

[Evergreen Emerald]

22. you don't sound like a democrat

and you sound a bit--too caffeinated.

"unqualified, corrupt, lying, warmongering Bush-Cheney Democrat." You are a perfect example of what I have been saying all along: it is so much easier to repeat talking points that have no basis in fact than to actually check the record.

Your diatribe against a democratic candidate is reprehensible on this board.

[ClarkUSA]

23. I'm a Democrat who knows a Bush/Cheney Democrat when I see her.

I also know a Bush/Cheney Democrat's supporters, too. Hello there!

And stop swift boating Obama, because your dishonest accusations against a good Democrat are reprehensible on this board.

[ulysses]

5. there isn't one of them that'll actually do anything about the damned law anyway.

[burrowowl]

7. Kucinich is for

proper public school education (i.e., proper exams and not repuke owned multiple choice test and teaching for these tests instead of educating) and like in Europe, free State University education for those who pass their high school exams.

[ClarkUSA]

9. So what? Obama is right. Karmadillo, thanks for posting the facts.

I didn't think you had it in you.

[adnelson60087]

10. NCLB is an abomination upon public education

with the sole reason for its existence to undercut public support for the school systems across the nation. I was amazed back in '01 when it passed because the Dems obviously didn't read the damn thing and those few like Edward Kennedy was taken for a fool by the Cons. I think just about any Dem will either fix (which I personally feel is impossible) or scrap it. NCLB is just a disaster borne out of the Houston School District Hoax.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0338,schanberg,47060,1.html

http://nochildleft.com/links.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401E4DE1E3CF93BA35753C1A9659C8B63

Take a read....very sobering stuff.

[Carrieyazel]

11. Obama doesn't get it either. No Child Left Behind needs to be SCRAPPED.

Its a worthless piece of legislation brought to us by Shrub and his minions. Democrats foolishly bought into this crap. It mandates one size fits all standardized testing that we already had too much of to begin with. Students hate it, teachers hate it, administrators hate it. Richardson has the best stance here. Don't reform it, just get rid of it. Don't get into debates over the funding. The funding is the least of NCLB's problems. Its bad legislation, first and foremost.

[babylonsister]

15. They are all wrong on this imo. Get rid of this useless program that

benefits no one.

[Skip Intro]

20. He seems to like doing that.

"Bush/Cheney-lite" was the first time it caught me.

Says more about him than anything.

[neutron]

21. Good to see the man has someone to criticize

besides Hillary Clinton.