Gen. Wesley Clark Addresses Home Crowd

After a busy week, the newest presidential candidate retired General Wesley Clark made time for legislators and voters in is own home state. Sunday evening, he participated in a Town Hall meeting at Philander Smith College, sponsored by the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus. Clark heard a wide range of questions from the economy to legalizing marijuana and fleshed out more details on his policies and plans. On the economy he told his audience he plans to ask people making more than $200,000 a year to give back the tax cut President Bush just gave them. "We`re going to put it into jobs for the 1st two years. $40 billion into homeland security-type jobs. $40 billion back to the states, and $20 billion as employment credits for businesses," Clark said. He told his audience he supports organized labor for extremely large businesses, and making Social Security solvent for 70 years. "And I was curious to hear his position on organized labor...because I don`t think there`s such a thing as rebuilding this country with strong jobs unless you do it with unionized jobs," said Rep. Joyce Elliot, Black Caucus vice-chair. While Clark said he would not have voted for the Iraqi war, he was asked his ideas for getting out of it. "That means bringing in the United Naions to run the political and economic development, keep the U.S. in charge of the military side, and creating Iraqi military and police capabilities," he said. But some say, while Clark was able to make more of an outline on his goals at the forum, there will come a time when he has to begin coloring in the lines. "What he laid out tonight I think are very broad goals, understandably with such a short time in the campaign," Elliot said. Clark was also asked about the death penalty. He said he believes it may be implemented in an unfair and discriminatory practice and that where evidence is available, he thinks death penalty cases should be revisited, now that we have the technology to do it. He expects to have a health care plan announced in a few days. The Black Caucus is holding another town hall meeting with former Senator Carol Mosley Braun of Illinois next Sunday.