Clinton promises major package to fight crime

US: HILLARY CLINTON has proposed a sweeping package of anti-crime measures aimed at cutting murders in American cities in half, shrinking the country's prison population of more than two million and increasing access to drug treatment. Denis Staunton in Washington

Announcing the $4 billion plan in Philadelphia, which had almost 400 murders last year, Mrs Clinton said she could reduce homicides by increasing the number of police on the streets, reducing gang violence and by cracking down on illegal gun trafficking.

"At its core, my agenda is about responsibility. It's about the federal government living up to its responsibility to help restore order in our communities, pave the way for economic development and new jobs and help our families feel safe in their homes and neighbourhoods," she said.

Mrs Clinton said she would abolish the mandatory five-year prison sentence for possessing more than five grammes of crack cocaine and seek to steer non-violent drug offenders away from prison and into treatment programmes.

The New York senator unveiled her anti-crime plan as she seeks to divert attention away from missteps in her campaign, including the role of former chief strategist Mark Penn. Mr Penn resigned his post this week after it emerged that he had been lobbying privately on behalf of a trade deal with Colombia which Mrs Clinton opposes, but he remains part of the campaign.

Barack Obama said yesterday, that if Mr Penn had embarrassed him in a similar way, he would have fired him.

"I think it was surprising to me that a high-ranking - if not the highest-ranking - member of Senator Clinton's team would be engaged in business activities and lobbying that was directly contrary to the position that Senator Clinton had taken," he said.

"Let me put it this way, I'm not surprised that Senator Clinton found herself in an uncomfortable position as a consequence. I know that if staff of mine were putting me in that kind of position, I would get rid of them."

Mr Obama yesterday took a further step away from a pledge to accept federal matching funding for the general election if he becomes his party's nominee. Republican John McCain has promised to accept the funds, which impose strict limits on the amount of money a candidate may raise from private donors.

Mr Obama, who has raised $234 million from about 1.3 million donors so far, said the limited amounts of money available from the federal funds created a difficult choice for candidates.

"I think that it is creaky. The amount of money raised through the public financing system may be substantially lower than the amount of money that can be raised over the internet, which presents candidates then with some pretty tough decisions in terms of how they want to move forward if they want to compete in as many states as possible," he said.

Mr Obama said he would like to meet Mr McCain if he wins the nomination and work out an agreement on how to proceed.

© 2008 The Irish Times

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