Senator John Kerry's Radio Address to the Nation (Text)

[Khephra]

press release

Text of Senator John Kerry's Radio Address to the Nation

9/4/2004 11:07:00 AM


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: National Desk, Political Reporter

Contact: Allison Dobson of Kerry-Edwards 2004, 202-464-2800

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the text of Senator John Kerry's Radio Address to the Nation:

Good morning. This is John Kerry.

Yesterday morning, once again, we received disappointing news about job creation here in America. The newest numbers show that this past month, we simply haven't created enough new jobs. Nowhere near the number we need to get our economy moving again. President Bush is now certain to be the first president since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression who didn't create a single new job.

Over the past three years, we've lost 1.6 million jobs in the United States. And to make matters worse, the new jobs we're creating pay an average of $9,000 less than the ones we've lost. Many of them are part-time, or temporary, and they don't provide any health care or benefits. So today, we're losing good jobs and replacing them with ones that simply don't pay the bills. But, all across America, people who are working are working hard. They are working two jobs, three jobs, they're working weekends, just to get by.

Parents are sitting at kitchen tables and wondering how they're going to make ends meet: How they're going to buy back- to-school clothes this week, and still pay last week's doctor bill. How they're going to make this months mortgage payment, and still cover next semester's tuition. And whether they're going to be able to save for retirement or just have enough left over for a night at the movies. If President Bush thinks this is good enough, then he just doesn't get it. And two nights ago, in New York, he presented an economic plan that will hurt the middle class and working families even more.

His plan does nothing about outsourcing. In fact, during the convention, his own Secretary of Labor said that shipping jobs overseas was good for America.

He said that he wants to reform the tax code. What he talked about is a national sales tax which would raise the cost of everything you buy.

And now he wants to privatize Social Security and cut your benefits.

Is that an economic plan that will strengthen middle-class families? You be the judge. To me, it sounds like the same tired old policies of the past that put the special interests above America's interests.

Today, it's very clear that President Bush's economic policies have failed the American middle class. He said tax cuts for the wealthy were going to turn things around. They haven't. And for four days in New York, instead of talking about jobs and the economy, we heard anger and insults.

First, John Edwards and I are going to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. Instead, well reward the companies that create and keep good paying jobs right where they belong in the United States of America.

Next, we're going to invest in the jobs of the future in the technologies and innovation to ensure that America stays ahead of the competition. Then, we're going tackle the rising cost of living that's dragging down the middle class. We're going to lower health care premiums up to $1,000 and we're going to give tax credits to help you pay for child care and college tuition.

And with 8 million people unemployed, with the largest deficits in American history, forty minutes of promises in one speech can't make up for four years of failure. President Bush just doesn't understand that a strong America begins right here at home.

We need to put Americans back to work to get the American economy working. And not just in any jobs but in good jobs - jobs that actually let you pay your bills and build your dreams. And when John Edwards and I are in the White House, that's exactly what we're going to do. And here's how well do it.

We're going to rein in government spending and restore fiscal discipline to Washington, DC. In just four years, well cut the deficit in half by passing the bill that John McCain and I wrote to end corporate welfare and by making our government live by the very same rule that families struggle to live by all across the country: pay as you go.

In the end, the election comes down to one thing: Are we going to continue with the same warmed over policies that George Bush has tried these last four years - or are we going to move in a new direction? I believe we need a new direction for America's families. And together, we're going to put the middle class first and get our economy back on track.

Thanks for listening.

Paid for by Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. Web: http://www.johnkerry.com

http://www.usnewswire.com/

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=35668

[Dudley_DUright]

1. Thanks Kef

Good stuff on economic issues, but he needs to hit Bush on the 17% medicare premium increase just announced. Could be the key to FL.

[flpoljunkie]

2. Thanks for posting.

[Khephra]

3. You're both welcome!

:hi:

[AnnInLa]

4. Will middle-america deserve what they get if

they elect bu$h? I'm beginning to think so. However, that means that DU will have to secede, and form its own country. Or, better yet, we can attack Jamaica, move there and impose our own vision of democracy.

[Tatiana]

5. Thanks kef, good stuff here.

I especially like that we are framing Bush's tax cuts as "tax cuts for the wealthy." That phrase has gone mainstream, methinks and these tax cuts are not going to play well across America. Also like that Kerry framed Bush's reform of the tax code as a "national sales tax." This will also not play well across America. It looks like Bush is trying to tax everyone to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.

This was excellent. One minor point of contention. Are we just working for the middle-class? We want to put them first, OK... But what about the lower-class? Can't we help them get their foot in the door? Even Bush, in a lame attempt, tried to throw them a bone by saying he'd give more money to community colleges and expand workforce initiatives (yeah right, expand them after he already cut them). Last time I checked the Democratic party cared about poor people too. They vote too.

[Khephra]

6. kick

[Khephra]

7. kick