Oregon daily emerald., August 18, 2004, Page 21, Image 21

KERRY
continued from page 1
In his speech, Kerry discussed edu
cation, health care, foreign policy and
the economy. He said life is about
choices and politics is about the
choices you have.
"I want to offer a better choice
for our country, based on truth,"
he said.
When asked what he was going
to do about the "sky high" cost
of college tuition, Kerry had
several ideas.
Kerry said under the current ad
ministration, most students qualify
for Perkins loans and Pell grants be
cause they have less money that is
not going as far. This amounts to an
effective reduction in grants and
loans, he said.
*1 will raise them back up, not just
to where they were before but to
meet the level of inflation so we're
helping people to afford the grants
and loans," he said.
Kerry also wants to enact a
$4,000-per-student tuition tax cut,
but he said he's most excited about
a loan pay-down that encourages re
cent graduates to help in the com
munity with jobs that normally
don't pay well like child care, teach
ing or working in the local court sys
tem. People who work two years at
these jobs — which could also in
clude helping the community's at
risk kids, helping seniors or cleaning
up the river — would get four years
of in-state tuition paid for.
Kerry said that by paying these
college graduates $4000 per year to
do work such as helping at-risk
youth graduate from college, the
government can save money in the
long run. Otherwise, he said, the
government may have to spend
$50,000 to house some of these
youth in prison for life.
"I want to restore America's com
mitment to rebuilding community,"
Kerry said. "There's all kinds of work
to be done here in America."
Bev Ficek, an Oregon state congres
sional candidate, said she thinks Ker
ry's ideas on education are fantastic.
"Everything goes from education,"
she said, adding that many problems
come from lack of education, such as
crime and poverty.
Kerry also highlighted his
-— • , • —m.—,n,-mu, ...,„■- Hill——II |
Craig Volpe Freelance photographer
Bush and Kerry supporters were shoulder-to-shoulder when Kerry visited Springfield Friday
morning. Kerry talked with locals in a Springfield neighborhood.
economic plan for the audience.
From 1993 to 2000, under the
Clinton administration, average
annual wages in America increased
$7,100, Kerry said. During the
past four years, the average has de
creased $1,600.
Under Kerry's plan, 98 percent of
Americans will get a tax cut. He said
he wants to keep all middle tax cuts
in place.
"We are going to take the top 1.5 to
2 percent of incomes in America, and
we are just going to go back to the lev
el that we were with President Clin
ton," he said.
"My choice is this," said Kerry.
"We protect the middle class and
close loopholes that don't make eco
nomic sense."
Kerry said the tax burden of the
middle class has gone up under the
Bush administration and the tax bur
den on the wealthy has gone down.
"This is not only morally wrong,
but wrong from a policy point of
view," Kerry said.
Kerry also stressed the importance
of free health care for children and in
troduced a sliding scale of premiums
so people would be covered for cata
strophic events. He also said ever/one
should have the right to buy into the
same health care that senators and
congressmen give themselves.
On the issue of foreign policy,
Kerry said cooperation with other
countries is crucial.
"Engaging with the world in a way
that lives up to American values and
standards sends the message to the
world that America is the country
they respect," Kerry said. He said
doing so would show the world that
America stands for something other
than "just going at it alone,
going unilaterally, pushing other
countries aside."
His audience appreciated his speech.
"It's fantastic; he's talking issues,"
veteran John Cuff said, adding that he
believes that Kerry will be supportive
of the plight of veterans.
Ficek said she believes in Kerry
as well.
"This is the American dream. This
is my dream," she said. "I want to
stick to and fulfill my dream, not just
for me but for my family."
Kerry emphasized the choice for pres
ident Americans are presented with.
"You have a choice this November
between policies that say the econo
my has turned the corner and the
economy today is the best economy
we've ever had," he said. "Or you
can have John Edwards and I, who
believe we can create better jobs, we
can raise the ability of people to be
able to afford health care, the ability
to make college more affordable,
and Americans can move down the
road to the creation of all kinds of
new jobs."
omiedrawhorn@dailyemerald.com
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