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"Kerry Forum Targets Jobs, Corporate Tax Breaks"
"By George NelsonAUSTINTOWN, Ohio -- Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry pledged to create incentives for companies to create jobs in the United States, and eliminate one that encourage corporations to shift jobs overseas, at a town hall meeting here on jobs and the economy."I will never not fight for the workers of America and the jobs of America," Kerry told the assembly Sunday afternoon at the Austintown High School gymnasium, where eight years ago Vice President Al Gore campaigned. The visit came just days after the first debate between Kerry and President George W. Bush which focused on foreign policy and homeland security, a contest that Kerry is widely acknowledged to have won -- bringing the presidential race back to a dead heat, according to national polls.While foreign policy and other issues were addressed at the forum, the focus was on jobs and economic issues in a region that continues to struggle with long-term challenges as well as new ones such as outsourcing. Leading off comments from local political leaders, Campbell Mayor John C. Dill disputed the contention of Bush and other Republicans that the economy is doing fine, citing the loss two years ago of Cold Metal Products in the city. He also said job losses in the city have resulted in layoffs of firefighters, police officers and street department workers. Dill warned that voters in the Mahoning Valley -- as well as throughout the battleground state of Ohio -- "have to wake up."Jim Kaster, president of United Auto Workers Local 1714 at the General Motors Lordstown Complex, noted that the UAW has lost 11,800 jobs in the last two years under the Bush administration. As a Vietnam veteran, he said he was upset with funding cuts for veterans benefits as well as ads criticizing Kerry produced by the self-styled Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.State Rep. Sylvester Patton of Youngstown criticized the Bush Administration on a number of fronts, including education and health care as well as jobs. With Ohio unemployment at 6.5% -- and 7.5% in the Mahoning Valley -- Patton noted minority unemployment has risen 63% from 2001 to 2003. "This president has made many mistakes and admitted none. This country made one large mistake in 2000 and we admitted to it and we will correct it Nov. 2," he declared. The sharpest barbs of the day were issued by state Sen. Robert Hagan of Youngstown. Remarking on the number of elected officials in the gymnasium, he quipped that he hadn't seen that much political ego in one room "since I saw [Youngstown Mayor George] McKelvey dining alone. McKelvey earned the ire of local Democrats by endorsing Bush, a Republican, for reelection. "Make no mistake about what happened last Thursday night. John Kerry put a Mahoning Valley choke hold on the president," Hagan observed regarding the debate.U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17, in introducing Kerry, said he "cleaned George Bush's clock" during the debate. Ryan related that he and Kerry, on their way to the Austintown event, stopped to meet with locked-out workers at RMI Titanium in Niles. "He talked to the families. He wanted to know, unlike this president we have today who is completely content with being disengaged with the American people." Ryan said that during the motorcade from the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, when the candidate's jet touched down around 11:30 a.m., Kerry wanted to know about the materials program at Youngstown State University. Following the event, the congressman told reporters Kerry discussed the status of the Youngstown Air Reserve Station. "He wants to figure out a way to solve these problems and he's willing to sit down with the local congressman," Ryan said. "That's the kind of leadership you need."Kerry quickly attempted to connect with audience on a common ground -- sports -- by observing that Austintown's football team is undefeated. He also said that a Cleveland Indians fan had reminded him that the Tribe hadn't won a pennant since 1948. "Heck, since I'm from Boston, I thought he was bragging," Kerry said. Actually, 1948 was the last year the Indians had won the World Series but no matter -- the crowd enjoyed the candidate's joke.The discussion soon turned to weightier topics, as Kerry referenced a story in Sunday's New York Times "that raises serous questions about whether or not the administration was open and honest in making the case for war." Kerry said the administration chooses to avoid the facts and the truth not only on issues regarding how the Iraq war but also on the economy. "You all know this better than anybody else because the unemployment rate in this area is about 8%. It's 25% higher than any other part of the state," he remarked. "The president has been here many times but the question is, does he really see and know what is going on in the lives of middle-class Americans and people struggling to get into the middle class?"Even as jobs are being outsourced, administration officials characterize the economy as the best it's ever been, Kerry said. Every time the administration has had the opportunity to make a choice on behalf of average citizens "they made a choice that helps the powerful. They made a choice that helps the people who are the most helped already," he continued.Kerry acknowledged that he comes from a background 'that's very privileged," but added that his parents raised him "very consciously with a sense of fairness," and referenced President Kennedy's beliefs that to whom much is given, much is expected. "It seems to me that as I look at what's happening today, fundamental fairness is being taken away from the playing field in our great country and nothing shows that more than the unfairness of what's happened in terms of the tax structure, who pays and who bear the burden," he said. Under the Bush Administration, he maintained, the middle class has assumed a greater share of the tax burden. Meanwhile, the budget surpluses Bush inherited have been replaced by deficits. "So I will not only protect our nation by fighting a more effective war on terror that wins us alliances and makes us stronger in the rest of the world, I will stand up and fight for our needs at home by making us stronger at home by restoring fiscal responsibility to Washington, D.C.," Kerry vowed.The candidate criticized corporations that pay no taxes despite making profits, helped in some cases by offshore subsidiaries that allow them to lower their tax burden -- "Bermuda loopholes," as Kerry described them. Halliburton, the oil services company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, opened some 20 offshore entities while he was its chief executive officer, Kerry charged, "and they've got a lot more today." Bush, he added, "supports allowing those companies to keep those offshore to avoid taxes altogether." Kerry said he wants to close such tax loopholes, which would provide additional tax revenue sufficient to lower the corporate tax rate of every business in America. In addition, he proposed a manufacturing jobs credit for companies that expand jobs in the United States, a payroll tax credit for companies that hire new people and, most importantly, reduce the cost of health careKerry called two guests on stage with him to share their stories with the audience. Sophia Taylor-Richards, a single mother of five including four foster children, told of how she has worked at the former MCI call center in Niles until she was given two weeks notice in March, "and the company opened three other centers in other countries." Asked to train her replacement, she refused, and was let go without a severance package.Ray Raschilla Jr., who has worked at RMI for more than 15 years, charged the Bush administration enables companies to lock workers out. He said that many of his fellow locked-out workers are in worse shape than he is, noting that many workers like himself are having to choose between health care and mortgage payments. Worse than the lost income, he said, is the effect on family and community. Raschilla shared the story of his daughter telling him about getting ready for her first homecoming. He asked her what she was doing for a dress, and she responded that she knew he wasn't working so her mom and grandmother had taken care of it. "That was probably the toughest day," he said. Kerry acknowledged he has heard similar stories all over the country, and pledged that, if elected, on the first day of office he will send to Congress a bill a health care bill that "offers options that aren't available to you today, including the possibility of every American buying , if you wanted to, the same health care plan" available to senators, congressmen and presidents. "If we lowered the cost of premiums your company would be more competitive," he said. "We would have a whole bunch of American companies deciding not to go abroad to be able to lower the cost of their products. They could be more competitive here in America"On several occasions during the program, Kerry referenced Bush's own words and positions to use them against his opponent. "I welcome hard work. I like hard work," he said, referring to Bush's repetitive statements during the debate that "hard work" remained in Iraq. He also attempted to portray Bush as a flip flopper on how to help the domestic steel industry. He noted the president imposed a three-year tariff on imported steel but reversed course halfway through. "Now I don't know, but I think that if you're against tariffs and then you put tariffs in place and then you take them off, that's sort of a flip-flop-flip." The Bush campaign has continually characterized the Massachusetts senator as a flip-flopper, particularly with regard to his position on Iraq.During a question-and-answer session, Kerry addressed a wide range of issues, including veterans issues, his opposition to privatizing Social Security and prisons, the recently expired assault weapons ban, college assistance and reinstating the draft. Asked about the Sept. 11 commission report, Kerry said its most significant aspect was that it made clear Saddam Hussein and Iraq had played no role in the terrorist attacks. "It underscores the degree to which this president took his eye off the real target, which is Osama bin Laden and al Queda," he said. "I will do whatever is necessary to protect America, but I will always understand that the United States of America is always strongest when we work with other countries and have allies by our side." Responding to a separate question from a teenager regarding the draft, Kerry said he would not reinstate it unless it was clear that it was in the nation's vital security interests. He also said the foreign policy he puts in place will act to reduce international tensions "and where the military is not overextended" and "we're bringing people home."He also said "no young American in uniform" is ever going to be held hostage by America's dependency on foreign oil, and proposed a $40 billion energy conservation trust fund paid for with money for rights to drill for oil and gas on public lands. Money will be dedicated to tax credits and grants for research into alternative and renewable energy sources. He said he hopes his plan is met with the same kind of excitement as Kennedy's proposal to land a man of the moon by the end of the 1960s. By 2020, his goal is for 20% of America's energy needs to be met by these sources.A Kerry spokeswoman said at least one more visit to the Valley by Kerry is planned before the election, probably a rally that would accommodate more people than could fit into the Austintown gym. "This time he really wanted top talk in a very substantive way about specifically jobs, knowing that this part of Ohio has suffered some of the worst from outsourcing," she said.The visit to Austintown was Kerry's 18th trip to Ohio since he secured his party's nomination in July. Ohio's 20 electoral votes are considered the key to the presidential election. No Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio. Most state polls put Bush a few points ahead of Kerry, although at least one poll, Rasmussen Reoirts, finds Bush is ahead in Ohio by only one point, 49% to 48%. In response to Kerry's visit Sunday to the Mahoning Valley, Youngstown Mayor McKelvey issued a statement saying Ohio voters "aren't going to trust a candidate who says America has to pass a 'global test' before taking action," as he characterized Kerry's position on gathering international support. "Giving other countries veto power over our self-defense would cause our nation to drift towards tragedy," he added.McKelvey's statement was posted on the Bush/Cheney campaign web site. "