US: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton says rising budget and trade deficits now threaten the US's global competitiveness.
Ms Clinton has called for economic policies that restore fiscal discipline in Washington, attack rising healthcare costs and ensure that middle class Americans share more fully in the fruits of a growing economy.
The possible 2008 presidential candidate on Tuesday night offered an alternative path to the policies of President Bush, reproaching the administration's record without directly attacking or even naming the incumbent.
The closest she came to direct criticism was when she focused on the core of Mr Bush's policies, saying: "Tax cuts alone cannot secure the middle class. They are not the cure-all for everything that ails the American economy."
Ms Clinton was speaking at a black-tie dinner held by the Economic Club of Chicago.
She used the forum to offer one of the most comprehensive statements of her views on economic policy since entering the senate more than five years ago. Touching on energy policy, infrastructure investment, healthcare and the values that built the US economy, she said it was time to get back to fundamentals.
"A return to fiscal discipline, living within our means, is essential to our long-term health. It is also critical to whether or not we control our own destiny as a nation. Red-ink fiscal policies will undermine America's competitiveness."
She said the economy was not serving the middle class, noting that over the past four years productivity had risen while wages had declined. - (Los Angeles Times-Washington Post service)