Election 2004 Senator Kerry Speech

August 12, 2004

�A Stronger America Begins at Home: The Path to Prosperity� Kick Off

Remarks of Senator John Kerry

For Immediate Release

Carson, CA - Over the last few weeks, John Edwards and I have made our way across this country we love, from sea to shining sea, because we believe in America and we believe we can do better.

And at every stop we�ve made, from great cities to the great Southwest, from the flag-draped front porches of Main Street America to the small family farms that dot the Midwest, we�ve met Americans who believe that too.

While millions are struggling to find work, and millions more are struggling to pay the bills, these folks hold on to an optimism that is both courageous and classically American. They know we can do better. They know our best days lie ahead. And they still believe in an America where a willingness to work hard is rewarded with the opportunity to earn a decent living and the chance to get ahead.

John Edwards and I think it�s time we built an economy that honors those values. And we think it�s time the American people had a government that lives by them.

We believe a stronger America at home is built on a strong middle-class.

That�s why today, after days of listening and learning about the hopes and concerns of hardworking people from every corner of America, and after more bad economic news for middle-class families, I�d like to talk about our real economic plan to build a stronger America.

It�s a plan that makes us stronger by creating good-paying jobs here instead of shipping jobs overseas. A plan that makes us stronger by giving middle-class families tax breaks, not bigger bills. A plan that makes us stronger by revitalizing American manufacturing, helping our businesses become more competitive, and investing in the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. And it�s a plan that is our answer to the everyday Americans who have shared their dreams with us every moment of this journey. Theirs are the concerns we share. Theirs are the hopes we hold. And theirs are the stories that are the heart of our campaign to build a stronger America.

The road to this America takes us in a new and better direction. It�s based on telling the American people the truth � not selling them shop-worn slogans. But, in the last week, we�ve been told over and over again that America has turned the corner.

When we�ve had four years of disappearing manufacturing jobs that have put millions out of work, the Americans I�ve met don�t think we�ve turned the corner.

When we�ve had four years of falling wages, rising health care costs, and a shrinking middle-class, the Americans I�ve met don�t think we�ve turned the corner.

When we�ve had four years of people working harder and harder and still not getting ahead, the Americans I�ve met don�t think we�ve turned the corner.

Too many of the Americans I�ve met over the last few weeks not only don�t think we�ve turned the corner � they feel like they�ve been backed into a corner by the policies of the last four years � rising unemployment�exploding deficits�falling wages�.American jobs shipped overseas.

The sad fact is: Too many of our fellow citizens don�t have to read about how disappointing last month�s job numbers were, because they�re living the disappointment. They don�t need to be told about the rising costs of health care, because they�re the ones who can�t afford to take their child to the doctor. And they don�t need to open the paper to find out that the new jobs being created pay $9,000 less than the ones we�ve lost, because they�re the ones who open their paychecks and wonder how they�ll pay the bills.

The response of this Administration � of those in charge -- is to tell us that this is the best economy we've ever had. And we�re told anyone who thinks otherwise is a pessimist. Well, here is our answer: There is nothing more pessimistic than saying America can't do better.

There�s a very simple reason we�ve gone four years without a plan to fix our economy: no one in the White House thought anything was broken. And they still don�t. They�re just fine with the same old failed policies of the past. That�s why, like Herbert Hoover, they say prosperity is still just around the corner. And that�s why we�re still waiting to hear a plan for the next four years.

We can do better and we will. We're the optimists. For us, this is a country of the future. We're the can do people. And let's not forget what we did in the 1990s. We balanced the budget. We paid down the debt. We created 23 million new jobs. We lifted millions out of poverty and we lifted the standard of living for the middle class. We just need to believe in ourselves � and have the right leadership and the right policies -- and we can do it again.

We can make choices that widen the circle of opportunity for all Americans, not just the select few. We can build an economy with a growing middle-class where everyone has the chance to succeed. And we can finally create jobs and bring tax relief to all of our families.

Over the last four years, again and again, we were promised that tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals would create millions of new jobs. Instead, we�ve lost jobs, and these unaffordable tax cuts have led America into deficits as far as the eye can see. This Administration is the first since Herbert Hoover�s to actually lose jobs on its watch � 1.8 million jobs. Just last month, there were only 32,000 jobs created in the entire country � a pace far behind what is needed to keep up with the 2 million college graduates who will enter the workforce this spring.

And now, to add insult to injury, just yesterday the other side talked about a national sales tax. At least that�s what they call it. I call it one of the largest tax increases on the middle class in American history. This is from an Administration that has offered almost no new ideas for our economy � and the few they have proposed have only hurt middle class families. This one is no different. It�s a twenty to thirty percent national sales tax -- on top of the state and local sales taxes that Americans already pay. This tax will hurt small business, it will hurt jobs, and it will hit the pocketbooks of those who need tax relief the most.

Middle-class families can�t afford four more years of a tax plan that drives up unemployment, drives up the deficit, and drives up their tax burden and the costs of health care, child care, and college tuition. When tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans are your first, second, and only priority, you don�t have anything left to take care of health care premiums that have risen over $2,600. You don�t have anything left to take care of skyrocketing property taxes in states struggling to pay for these deficits. And you don�t have anything left to take care of the cost of child care and college tuition that has risen over $1,200.

When tax cuts for the wealthiest are your only priority, you don�t have anything left for middle-class Americans � and it�s middle-class Americans who end up paying the largest share.

I will be a president who stands with the middle class and stands for fairness

We believe it�s time America had tax cuts that work for all Americans. We believe it�s time we had tax cuts that help create good-paying jobs � right here in America. And, after four years of shifting the tax burden from those with the most to those most struggling to make ends meet, we believe it�s time that America�s tax code reflected America�s moral code. And when I�m President, it will.

I have a comprehensive economic plan for a stronger America that will allow us to create jobs and keep more good jobs here in America. It offers a long-term strategy to win our economic future, and it gives our workers the skills and the training they need to compete and succeed in a new economy. And, most importantly, it includes tax cuts that will create jobs and provide relief for middle-class families struggling to make ends meet � tax cuts that are paid for without increasing the deficit one single dime.

First, we start with a Jobs First Tax Cut strategy that will replace deficit-expanding tax cuts for the few with job-creating tax cuts for every American.

Let me tell you precisely what this Jobs First Tax Cut strategy includes. It starts by closing tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping our jobs overseas. Instead of supporting an economic policy that thinks sending jobs overseas is good for America, we will provide tax incentives for companies that create and keep jobs where they belong � in the good ol� U.S.A.

We value an America that exports products, not jobs � and we believe American workers should never have to subsidize the loss of their own job.

To the taxpaying businesses of America out there, our Jobs First Tax Cut strategy takes the savings from closing these loopholes to cut taxes for 99% of you. To the small businesses and manufacturers who decide to add more employees to the payroll, we will provide a New Jobs Tax Credit for every person you hire.

We will completely eliminate capital gains taxes for those who make long-term investments in the small businesses and entrepreneurs who have always been America�s engine for innovation and job creation. And to those small business owners who want to hire more employees but cannot afford to insure them, we will give you up to a 50% tax cut on your health care contributions when you cover your workers.

My plan focuses on the rising cost of health care for families and small businesses, because I know that no working parent ever feels they are turning the corner unless they have a job that not only provides a decent wage, but the heath care that every family needs and deserves.

We need a president who understands that the health of our economy is tied to the health of our citizens.

Finally, my tax plan will make our tax code fair. You know, our tax code has gone from 14 pages to 17,000 pages. It�s time to crack down on tax shelters, taking Enron�s page out of the tax code so we can add another page for working families.

Second, our middle-class tax cuts will raise middle-class incomes.

We�re tired of people just getting by; we want people to get ahead. So to help you pay for health care, we�ll offer a tax break and health care reform to lower your premiums up to $1,000. To help you cover the rising costs of child care, we�ll offer a tax credit up to $1,000 to cover those costs so your kids have a safe place to go while you work. And to give your child the chance to go to college, we�ll offer a tax break on up to $4,000 in tuition.

To pay for all this, we make sure that 98 percent of all Americans keep their tax cuts, while rolling back only the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals who make over $200,000 a year so that we can invest in health care, education, and job-creation. They will go back to paying the same taxes they paid when Bill Clinton was president � a time when the rich got richer, and so did everyone else.

And to help folks in states where these unaffordable tax cuts for the wealthy have driven up deficits and killed jobs, we will offer $25 billion in relief to lower tuition costs, keep property taxes down, and make sure we can afford to defend our homeland.

Third, we believe it�s time for Washington to lives within a budget just like you do. We will make sure that these tax cuts don�t add one dime to the deficit so that we can protect Social Security and so that our children aren�t paying for them for the rest of their lives. Four years ago, this Administration was handed a record surplus. Today, we have record deficits. Passing or proposing $6 trillion in spending over the last four years without paying for a dime of it has jeopardized job creation and the foundation of economic strength in America.

Our plan will cut the deficit in half in four years by ending tax giveaways that are nothing more than corporate welfare � and we will make government go back to a simple rule: pay as you go. And we will cut the waste from our government�cutting 100,000 contractors we don�t need, cutting the top-level bureaucracy that has grown over the last four years, cutting government agencies that have outlived their purposes.

Finally, our economic plan is not just about economic relief today, it�s also about making the long-term investments in our nation�s future. If we want America to thrive in the long run, we must invest more in our people and their ideas, in science and technology, so that we can create high-tech, high-wage jobs in industries that are already improving the quality of our lives. We will offer tax credits to help us seize the possibilities of the Broadband Revolution and make Internet access available to all of America�s families. We will offer tax credits to buy and produce the fuel-efficient cars of the future, so that we can finally build an Energy Independent America. And we will give our workers the education and the job training that the jobs of tomorrow require today.

Our economic plan for America is based on the values we hold as Americans: that we should reward work, make sure Americans have a chance to work, and give them a chance to get ahead when they do.

We value jobs that pay you more not less than you earned before. We value jobs where, when you put in a week's work, you can actually pay your bills, provide for your children, and lift up the quality of your life. We value an America where the middle class is not being squeezed, but doing better.

These aren�t Democratic values. These aren't Republican values. They're American values. We believe in them. They're who we are. And if we honor them, if we believe in ourselves, we can build an America that's stronger at home and respected in the world.

You know, the last time a campaign took a cross-country trip across America was when Harry Truman ran for President in 1948. Their whistle-stop tour steamed through many of the small towns ours has, and when it reached the coasts of California, the man from Missouri who had spent a lifetime given �em hell told the crowd, �I wish I were 18 instead of 64. I would like to see the next 50 years because I think the greatest age in the history of the world is in front of us, and that age depends entirely on the proper leadership in the United States of America.�

My friends, we can do more than turn corners. We can take a new path that will lead America to a better place and greater times.

We can do more than turn corners. We can turn our economy around, and build one that works for every American.

John Edwards and I are ready to lead, and we have a plan to get us there � a plan to build a better America. Like Franklin Roosevelt, my test is not whether an idea is Democrat or Republican, but whether it will work. My tax plan to create jobs for the middle class will work. And it�s going to put our economy back on track.

We can do this. We can reach for the next dream. We can look to the next horizon. For America, the hope is there. The sun is rising. Our best days are still to come. Thank you and God bless you.

�Remarks by Senator John Kerry on Earth Day 2004

April 22, 2004

Houston, TX

Thank you.� I'm glad to be in Houston on Earth Day.

I�ve been spending the last few days talking with Americans about how we can build a cleaner, healthier environment.� And while there�s plenty that we�re going to do differently than this Administration on this issue, let me start by saying something nice about President Bush-he is an expert on recycling. He's recycled the same bad Republican policies from the 1980's all over again in the year 2004.

Thank you Dr. Lauren.� Your story reminds all of us about a basic American idea: �we can all make a difference and each one of us should try.�� When it comes to protecting our environment, strengthening our economy, and improving public health, effort is everything.�

Whether it�s saving our great public spaces like this one, stopping polluters from sending toxins into the water your drink, or protecting those national treasures we count on for our jobs, our livelihoods, and to feed our souls, our responsibility as Americans is to protect and preserve God�s gift to human kind.

We only have one chance with this place, and you and I together are going to make sure we use it wisely.� We�re going to ensure that our values and our beliefs reflect in how we treat our oceans, how we develop our small towns in the mountains, and how we protect our national parks and treasures.�

For we are all stewards of our land and water.� We are all capable of creating lasting change.� And we are all determined to ensure that those Americans who have yet to grace this earth can live in a country that keeps them healthy and gives them the opportunity to reach their full potential.�

But you and I know that we cannot succeed unless we change course.� We cannot build a stronger America together�an America that protects our air and our water and our children�unless we change course in November.

One of the great traditions in America is an unspoken vow between the old and the young.� For generations, older Americans have worked hard to ensure that the America they leave behind is smarter, stronger, and more secure than when they found it.�

Yet, for the first time in our history, this tradition may end and an older generation may pass on an America that is in worse shape than when they found it.� We�re facing trillions of dollars in debt.� Our foreign policy has pushed the world aside and left us to face threats on our own.� We have a health care crisis that is emptying the pockets of working families.� And in three short years, one man and one Administration has put the breaks on 30 years of environmental progress.�

Houston, do you want four more years of rolling back our clean air laws that pollute our air and give our kids asthma?� Do you want four more years of arsenic in our drinking water?� Do you want four more years of mercury levels rising in women and children?� Do you want four more years of polluters getting a tax break while you�re stuck with the bill?� Do you want four more years of ignoring our allies to stop global warming? Neither do I!�� Their kind of environment is hazardous to our health, our kid�s health, and the world�s.

We can do better because we know that the environment is about something bigger than a photo-op event once a year.� It�s about protecting our economy, our public health, and our way of life.� They are all connected and they are all endangered if we don�t change course in November.

So Houston will you help me change course in November?� Will you help me lead America to a place where no soldier ever has to be sent overseas because of our dependence on Mid-east oil?� Will you help me protect our coastlines and preserve those towns we count on for jobs and to raise our families?� Will you help me protect our clean air and clean water laws so that our kids grow up healthy?�

Houston will you help me make sure that next Earth Day George Bush celebrates it back home in Texas?

This week I have spent time in Florida and along the coast of Louisiana.� I talked about the common sense steps we can take today that will protect those places we love while creating jobs and protecting our economy.� This Administration uses the same tired old argument that you can�t have a clean environment if you want a strong economy.� Well they�re wrong.� We can have both.

I have a plan that will make this country independent from Mid-East oil in ten years.� And it will create 500,000 new jobs doing something that�s right for our environment, right for our economy, and right to strengthen our national security. We will put that tired old Republican argument to rest when we elect a new president in November!

I have a plan that will protect our oceans and our water ways.� I will enforce the BEACHES ACT and provide states with funding so that we know our beachwater is clean. I will work with local officials like Houston�s great Mayor Bill White to create strong partnerships to reduce storm-water runoff.� I will provide our states and local communities with the resources they need to protect important coastal ecosystems and implement smart coastal development.�

And when it comes to mercury, I will not let the utilities off the hook.� It just makes sense when 4.9 million women of childbearing age have high levels of mercury, and when one in six new born-infants have levels of mercury so high that they can cause brain damage.� You stop the polluters to protect the health of women and children!

Yesterday, I talked about my plan to protect our coastlines. In Louisiana, every 30 minutes a piece of land the size of a football field sinks into the Gulf of Mexico.� Costal erosion isn�t just swallowing their beaches; it�s drowning their economy.� Fishermen see their nets come up empty.� Sportsmen watch entire habitats disappear.� And families who live and visit those coastline towns fear that their homes or businesses may literally slip away.�

We can change this. We can enact laws that conserve and protect coastal regions here and all over America.� We will make the protection of our coastlines a national priority, because a secure coastline means security for the families who live there, the business owners who make a living there, and the sportsmen who hunt and fish there.

This is what we can do when we change course in November.� All it takes is a president who understands that there are no false choices to make between a clean environment and a strong economy�we can and we will have both when I am president.

We have great local leaders like Mayor Bill White, who are dedicated to making their cities and neighborhoods healthy places to live, work, and raise their families.�

Mayor White has been a leader in advocating the use of new technologies to reduce the energy use in buildings. The use of tree planting, paving and roofing materials which reflect, not absorb heat.� This could reduce energy bills and over time reduce outside air temperatures. We need to support innovative thinking like that.���

You know when I was young I learned this invaluable lesson about our environment from my mother.� She taught me how to recycle before it became second nature for so many Americans today.� And often, she would wake me up in the middle of the night, take me outside and say, �Listen.�

30 years ago, a generation listened to Rachel Carson and her wisdom.� I was proud to be apart of that movement then�painted Storrow Drive in Boston a biodegradable green-- and throughout my time in the senate.�

We saw our country transform from a place where lakes caught fire, there was lead in our gasoline, and polluters had free reign to send anything into our sky, our land, and our water ways.� But we put an end to that and we are not going to let this Administration put an end to 30 years of progress.�

Thirty-five years ago, when I was on a boat, drifting along Vietnam�s Mekong Delta, I grew up with a band of brothers from all walks of life and every corner of America.� We learned many things on that journey, but above all, we learned that we were never the kid from South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, California, or the kid from Massachusetts.�

Under the heat of fire and the fog of battle, our mission became crystal clear, and color, religion, and background melted away.� We understood that we were all simply �Americans.�� All of us fighting under the same flag, praying to the same God.�

I�m running for President because I believe that we are all in the same boat, not all on our own.� I believe that no matter what our differences, Americans all over this country want pretty much the same things in life.� We want to be united, not divided.� We want to believe there is more we can do about the problems facing America, not less.� We want the opportunity to build a better life, not more barriers to prosperity.

So let�s go out of here determined to keep that tradition begun by our forefathers of caring for this great land of ours and handing it on to our children in better shape then we were given it. Let�s work our hearts to make sure that the America we pass on is a country with clean rivers, clean air, clean water, with a safer environment that once again sees the smoke from the smokestacks disappear right along with our kid�s asthma.

With the right leadership again, we can be a nation that is once again filled with people who never forget that we are not the inheritors of the earth, but the stewards for the future.� And when I am President, we will respect that deep rooted value in the United States of America, not just on Earth Day, but every day!