Fiscal fix tops GOP debate

BOCA RATON, Fla. — When the five Republican presidential candidates faced off last night in their final debate before Tuesday’s Florida primary, the prime topic, just as on the campaign trail, was the floundering U.S. economy.

Former venture capitalist Mitt Romney said he has business skills in his DNA and that much more needs to be done to stem a recession. Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani pushed his plan for the “largest tax cut in history.” Sen. John McCain of Arizona said tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 under President Bush need to be extended.

“I think it’s very important to make those tax cuts permanent,” said Mr. McCain, who angered Republicans when he twice voted against them. But he said that he opposed the cuts only because they were not accompanied by the spending reductions needed to prevent a fiscal “disaster.”

Asked whether the topic shift to the economy — and away from national security and foreign policy —during the past few weeks hurts his campaign, Mr. McCain said, “I’m very well-versed in economics. … I’m a fiscal conservative.”

Mr. Romney, asked whether he agreed with Mr. Giuliani and Mr. McCain on economic issues, took aim only at the senator, who is tied with him atop the polls here. “Senator McCain voted against them originally. He now believes they should be made permanent. I’m glad he agrees they should be made permanent. I think he should have voted for them the first time around.”

The candidates were queried about their views on the $146 billion economic stimulus package to which White House and House leaders agreed yesterday. The plan would deliver rebate checks of $300 to $600 to struggling Americans, cut taxes on businesses and loosen limits on loan insurers.

Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said: “I just wish it went further. … Mine was a little different. It had a permanent tax cut for people at the lowest income tax bracket. … It’s something I support and I look forward to taking it further.”

Mr. Giuliani, who has fallen to a tie for third in the latest Florida polls, agreed that the plan “doesn’t go far enough.”

“We should be very aggressive. … My tax package, it would be the largest tax reduction in American history. It would take the Bush tax cuts, make them permanent, reduce the corporate tax, reduce the capital gains tax, reduce taxes on those things that would allow business to see America as more competitive,” he said.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also in third in the polls here, called the stimulus plan flawed.

“We’ll probably end up borrowing this $150 billion from the Chinese. And when we get those rebate checks, most people are going to go out and buy stuff that’s been imported from China. I have to wonder whose economy is going to be stimulated the most by the package.”

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas said the government’s primary role should be reducing taxes and regulations, rather than cutting checks and manipulating interest rates. He denounced the military budget as a fiscal drag, saying, “We’re spending nearly a trillion dollars a year overseas maintaining this empire.”

The four top candidates set aside their differences as they pounded Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York as weak on Iraq and certain to raise taxes. Messrs. McCain, Romney and Giuliani all criticized her. The former Massachusetts governor said credit for recent improvements in Iraqi security goes “not to General Hillary Clinton,” but to Gen. David H. Petraeus and Mr. Bush.

Mr. McCain said any Democrat in the White House would be bad for America. “If you watch the Democrat debates, that they will increase spending, they will increase taxes, they will expand the size of government, and they will continue the spending spree which, to a large degree, the Republicans have greater responsibility,” he said.

The 90-minute debate featured a rare question-and-answer period among the candidates.

Mr. Giuliani, in response to a question from Mr. Romney on international trade, said the more the U.S. engages in trade, “the less likely we are to have military hostilities.”

The former New York mayor added that China poses a great trading opportunity for the U.S.: “I see 20 million or 30 million people coming out of poverty in China every year. To me, that’s 20 million or 30 million more customers for the United States.”

Mr. Giuliani asked Mr. Romney why he doesn’t support a “national catastrophic fund,” to which the former governor replied that he is “not in favor of saying that the people in Iowa should have to subsidize the people in Massachusetts or the people in Florida.” But Mr. Romney added that the federal and state governments should work together “to create a program that gets people in high-risk areas insured.”

MSNBC debate moderator Brian Williams asked Mr. Giuliani about his flagging poll numbers in Florida.

“We have them all lulled into a very false sense of security now,” he said with a laugh. “We are going to come from behind, we’re going to win here in Florida, and if you look at the races that are coming up after that, I think we’re in good shape.”

The importance of last night’s debate was clear: Anxiety was etched on the faces of each candidate as the camera panned the stage. Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney are tied at the top of the most recent polls, with Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Huckabee trailing by about 10 percentage points.

The primary offers the winner 57 Republican National Convention delegates. It is the first big state to vote in the nominating campaign, the first winner-take-all contest in terms of delegates, and the final election before a virtual national primary Feb. 5. No Republican has won the party’s presidential nomination without winning the Florida primary.

Moderator Tim Russert asked each candidate whether he thought the removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was “worth the price we have paid in blood and treasure.” Mr. McCain said the war was a “good idea” that was “not worth the failures that happened.”

“But it is worth it at the end of the day, because we will have peace and success in the Middle East, and our men and women will return, and return with honor,” he said.

Mr. Giuliani said he supports the war “not because of polls, but because America is in a war, an Islamic terrorist war against us.”

Mr. Paul, a vocal critic of the war, said it was a “sad mistake” because “al Qaeda wasn’t there” and Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks.

Mr. Huckabee said he supported Mr. Bush’s decision to go to war, “as did the Democrats.” Mr. Romney agreed that the war was “right decision,” although he added that it “was not well managed after the takedown of Saddam Hussein and his military.”

The debate also had light moments. After Mr. Romney refused to divulge just how much of his half-billion-dollar fortune he is sinking into his own campaign, Mr. Huckabee told him: “You’ve got five exceptional sons. … If the country will elect me president, they’ll inherit a great country. And your boys will still get your money, too.”

• Joseph Curl reported from Tampa, Fla.