June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential hopefuls last night called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and more federal spending on education, health care and programs to alleviate poverty.

``The tax system has been skewed,'' Illinois Senator Barack Obama said during a forum focused on issues important to black voters held at Howard University in Washington. ``This goes to a broader question, and that is: Are we willing to make the investments in genuine equal opportunity in this country?''

Hillary Clinton, a New York senator who is the leading contender among the Democrats, said President George W. Bush entered office ``determined to tilt the balance back toward the privileged'' after the term of former President Bill Clinton, her husband. Middle- and low-income families are suffering as a result, she said.

Obama, the only black candidate among the eight Democrats running for president, is vying with Clinton for the support of black voters. The group, which overwhelmingly supports Democrats in presidential elections, is currently split evenly between the two contenders, according to a new Gallup Organization poll.

The top contenders in the race said they want to end Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and embraced billionaire investor Warren Buffett's statement at a fundraiser for Clinton this week that Congress favors the rich and that he pays taxes at a lower rate than many of his employees.

No Specifics

Still, they provided no specifics and didn't address legislation recently introduced in the House that would tax the share of profits that managers receive for investment services at ordinary income-tax rates as high as 35 percent and affect all partnerships, public and private.

The forum at the historically black institution featured no disagreements among Obama, Clinton and the other candidate in the top tier, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, 54. Among other issues, the candidates criticized yesterday's Supreme Court decision that struck down school integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky.

Education was a major theme of the forum, with Obama, 45, using disparities in the system to explain a higher rate of unemployment among black Americans.

``The reason that we have consistently had underperformance among these children, our children, is because too many of us think it is acceptable for them not to achieve,'' Obama said. ``We need somebody in the White House who's going to recognize these children as our own.''

Global Issues

The candidates also addressed a few global issues, such as the outsourcing of U.S. jobs overseas and genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. They said trade agreements need to be carefully managed and agreed that more action is needed to stop the bloodshed in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Clinton, 59, advocated a no-fly zone over Sudan. ``If they fly into it, we will shoot down their planes,'' she said of the Sudanese government. ``It's the only way to get their attention.''

Clinton, Obama and Edwards each drew applause from the predominantly black audience while talking about issues from racism to the justice system, and Clinton brought some audience members to their feet when discussing the toll AIDS has taken among blacks.

``If HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country,'' Clinton said.

The question about the disease prompted one of the few light-hearted moments in the debate when Delaware Senator Joseph Biden, 64, noted that both he and Obama had been tested for AIDS. Obama quickly jumped in to explain that he got his test along with his wife, Michelle, when they traveled to Africa, drawing laughter from the audience and his spouse.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net; Kim Chipman in Washington at kchipman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 29, 2007 00:13 EDT