Clinton outlines proposals for reform

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Senator Hillary Clinton of New York yesterday outlined a set of measures that she said would streamline government, reduce corruption in government contracting, and make official transactions more open and efficient.

Clinton, who is leading in the New Hampshire polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, said her proposals would restore "competence and confidence" in the federal government after what she called the Bush administration's "stunning record of cronyism and corruption."

Her campaign billed the 45-minute address at Saint Anselm College here as her first major policy speech since she began her presidential campaign in January. She delivered it in a week when three other presidential candidates -- Senator John McCain of Arizona, Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney -- gave major policy speeches on the Iraq war .

Senator Barack Obama, an Illinois Democrat who is one of Clinton's principal challengers, is scheduled to give a major policy speech on Iraq next week.

Clinton unveiled what she called a 10-point government reform plan, including putting an end to no-bid government contracts, cutting 500,000 jobs from government contractors, and strengthening protections for government whistle-blowers.

She did not put a price tag on her package of proposals, but said that cutting the contractors would save $10 billion to $18 billion a year. She said that from 2002 to 2005, the government added 2.4 million contractors to the federal payroll. She also said the number of competitive bid contracts had fallen from 79 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2005.

Clinton also promised to create a federally backed service academy to train 5,000 students a year for government service, modeled on the military service academies. Students would get a four-year college education for free in exchange for five years of public service.

Clinton said she would permanently ban all former Cabinet officials from lobbying her administration after they left government, and she pledged to strengthen safeguards for whistle-blowers.

Among those in the crowd was influential State Representative Eleanor Kjellman . Holding Hillary Clinton's autobiography in her lap, she said she has been on the fence about the candidate . "After listening to her speech today I am not sure what I am holding out for. She is wonderful," said Kjellman, a Henniker Democrat.

This was Clinton's fifth trip to New Hampshire in two months, making her the most traveled Democratic presidential candidate to the state.