Kerry, in Roanoke, blaims Bush tax cuts for downturn

Hampton Roads.com ^ | 2/9/04 | Chris Kahn/AP

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

ROANOKE — U.S. Sen. John Kerry today blamed the administration's tax cuts for snuffing the prosperity of the 1990s and said he would end the Bush presidency the same way Bill Clinton did to the elder Bush in 1992.

"If you liked what Bill Clinton gave you in eight years, you'll love what John Kerry will give you in the first four," the front-running Democratic presidential candidate from Massachusetts told a crowd of about 500 outside a downtown firehouse.

At the morning rally, Kerry criticized an upbeat economic report released by the White House that concluded America's economy is getting stronger despite losing 2.2 million payroll jobs since Bush took office.

"I've got a feeling this report was prepared by the same people who brought us the intelligence on Iraq," Kerry said to laughter from the crowd.

The report by the president's Council of Economic Advisers said last year's tax cut was reviving business growth, and predicted the economy will grow by 4 percent and create 2.6 million new jobs this year.

"We're going back to where we were in the 1980s when they dug a huge deficit hole," he said. "It took Democrats in 1993 under the leadership of President Clinton to turn this country around, balance the budget, pay down the debt and create 23 million new jobs."

One day before Virginia and Tennessee hold primaries, polls show Kerry surging in both states, buoyed by weekend triumphs in Michigan, Washington and Maine. Kerry has a total 426 delegates, compared with 184 for his closest rival for the Democratic nomination, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, according to an Associated Press tally.

It takes 2,162 delegates to win the nomination.

On Monday, Kerry ignored his Democratic rivals, overlooking a Dean supporter at the Roanoke rally who held up a large paper sign that called the Massachusetts senator only "slightly better than Bush."

Instead, Kerry reminded the crowd they were not just picking a president, but "choosing a leader of the free world." As a Vietnam veteran with nearly 20 years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry said he was much better suited than Bush to handle America's security.

"I remember what it was like to carry an M-16 in another country thousands of miles away and to not be able to tell the difference between who was trying to kill me and who wasn't, who was my friend and who was my foe," he said. "I learned about a lot of questions a president ought to ask before you send young people into harm's way."

Kerry left Roanoke for a rally in Memphis. He plans to visit both states on the day of the primary and will watch the results Tuesday night at a rally at George Mason University in Fairfax.

Sen. John Edwards campaigned Monday in Norfolk.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

"If you liked what Bill Clinton gave you in eight years, you'll love what John Kerry will give you in the first four," the front-running Democratic presidential candidate from Massachusetts told a crowd of about 500 outside a downtown firehouse.

A sober, terrifying prospect to consider, the next time someone tries to convince you that "there ain't no diff'rence 'tween Kerry an' Bush, by gum, by jingo...!"

[GeronL]

The downturn started under Clinton and the upturn started after the tax cuts.

Kerry is such an idiot

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Just for the record, everyone: the word "blaims," in the headline, is (mis)spelled exactly as it is/was in the article itself.

Believe it or not. :)

[kingu]

I'm really starting to get curious - do you think that Kerry will develop a campaign somewhere along the line here, or will he just wait until the convention to have one?

Why on Earth the RATs are so enthralled with the guy, I'll never know.

[Fledermaus]

Kerry says: "I remember what it was like to carry an M-16 in another country thousands of miles away and to not be able to tell the difference between who was trying to kill me and who wasn't, who was my friend and who was my foe," he said. "I learned about a lot of questions a president ought to ask before you send young people into harm's way."

You mean he didn't like the fact we were cleaning up France's mess at that time? He should have added, "But since I've been back from Vietnam, I know the best course of action is to hand over our security to the UN"!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

He should have added, "But since I've been back from Vietnam, I know the best course of action is to hand over our security to the UN"!

Wait... wait. John F. Kerry was actually in VIET NAM -- ?!? :)

[Fledermaus]

Yeah, I think he's mentioned it once or twice!

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Why on Earth the RATs are so enthralled with the guy, I'll never know.

From what I've covertly espied, on some of the 'Rat boards... there's actually a bitter little saying coming into being over this very phenomenon: "Dated Dean; Went Home With Kerry."

As both are well-known (and practiced) political prostitutes, however: I'm not entirely certain what brand of "prudence" or "wisdom" that's meant to denote, precisely. :)

[driftless]

I know pols from all parties always blame then opposition for whatever bad things are or aren't happening, but I'm beginning to believe that Kerry might be a bigger scoundrel than Ted Kennedy. If Kerry thinks that tax raises are the key to improving the economy (which by the way is recovering nicely due to Bush's cuts), than let him tell Americans that he wants to raise all their taxes. And as big a scoundrel as he is, at least Chappaquidick Ted was against the war from the start unlike Kerry. A bigger hypocrite I'm never seen than Ketchup John. He would be a leftist menace as the president.

[GeronL]

Terror of Kerry

[IrishRainy]

I keep hearing the quote over and over again "...2.2 million jobs lost..." which sounds bad. However, I saw a chart on MTP that stated that 130,000,000 Americans already HAVE jobs. So we're talking a loss of about 1.5%, yet everyone acts like hardly anyone has a job in America, thanks to Bush.

Now, if I was ONE of those 2.2 million unemployed people, it would suck, but when you put it in perspective...it's like the media is choosing to focus on the negative instead of the positive, like how far we've come since 9/11. And of course, they don't give you the whole equation so you can come to a determination about the situation yourself.

I've become really despondent these last few weeks when I think about the election. It's hard enough fighting against the Dumbocrats, but when the media is against you, it becomes downright exhausting.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

Yeah, I think he's mentioned it once or twice!

Speaking of hellholes: have you ever taken a quick gander at Mrs. Kerry...?!? [::rimshot::] :)

[Fledermaus]

But don't forget they have Clinton's "record" to "prove" raising taxes CAN boost the economy.

Of course, it did no such thing until the GOP took Congress and the natural business cycle took over (and learned some lessons from Bush 41's tax increases on how not to just pass them on and help create a recession). But now we have a GOP Congress spending more than the Dems they replaced in 1994 and fought over the right amount of an INCREASE in Medicare for FY 1996 in 1995 allowing Clinton to shut down the government (which was, as usual, a joke since practically every function was considered necessary) and blame it on the them.

Of course, that led to more interns being used and we know what then happened!

I still laugh at the national press that would run stories out of DC during the "shutdown" of a two-earning couple, both in government jobs, living in the suburb whining about how hard it was not to have a paycheck (they all got backpay) for a few weeks while the government was shut down. I always noticed they two SUV's or Mercedes in the drive of their easily $750K home!

Oh, I cried for days!

[IrishRainy]

"If you liked what Bill Clinton gave you in eight years, you'll love what John Kerry will give you in the first four,"

Please, tell me we're gonna use that line against him in the campaign!

[GeronL]

Actually its worse than that. There has been NO loss of 2 million jobs when you count the jobs added.

Jobs come and go all the time in a free market.

[Fledermaus]

I don't need 57 varieties of reasons to be disgusted with that snob!

Did you happen to catch the story about their place in Idaho where they ran afoul of the local government for taking water illegally from creeks? It was a typical "I'm a rich white liberal Euro-wannabe so you should listen to what I say, not pay attention to what I do" story.

She illegally tapped into the creek to water her poor Kentucky Blue Grass on something like 5 acres or more she had transplanted. Also, the "home" there was constructed and designed like an old barn in Europe that she had shipped over board by board.

I had tears running down my cheeks!

[Brilliant]

And the recession ended right after the tax cuts were passed. After Bush cut taxes a second time, the economy gained some momentum.

[SpinyNorman]

Speaking of hellholes: have you ever taken a quick gander at Mrs. Kerry...?!? [::rimshot::] :)

With that foolish scarf, she reminds me of that Jambi character (disembodied head floating on a scarf) on the old PeeWee Herman show.

[SpinyNorman]

"We're going back to where we were in the 1980s when they dug a huge deficit hole," he said. "It took Democrats in 1993 under the leadership of President Clinton to turn this country around, balance the budget, pay down the debt and create 23 million new jobs."

Actually, even the most cursory look at the performance of the stock marked in the 90's will clearly show that the market took off almost immediately when the Republicans took control of Congress. The record during the prior years was a very slow growth.

Just another fun fact Kerry misses. Maybe he should call the CIA? Oh, that's right, he thinks they are idiots.

[TexasCajun]

The downturn started under Clinton and the upturn started after the tax cuts.

What you talking 'bout? 'Rats don't care 'bout no stinking facts.