BY BRIDGET THORESON
Journal Times | Posted: Saturday, February 16, 2008 12:00 am
KENOSHA - With Tuesday's Wisconsin primary looming, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., stopped at the state's gateway of beer, cheese and brats for a speech here Saturday.
Clinton addressed a packed house of about 1,500 people at The Brat Stop, 12304 75th St., focusing on how she would help the middle class and offering her presidency as a contrast to President Bush's policies.
"What I hope is that we will make a commitment to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class," Clinton said. "We basically have had a president for the wealthy and the well-connected; I think it's time we had a president for everybody else in America."
She proposed what she called a return to fiscal responsibility through changes to the tax code, such as letting Bush's tax cuts for people who make more than $250,000 a year expire, while increasing tax cuts for people who make less than $250,000 a year.
During a question-and-answer session after her 30-minute speech, Clinton answered a question from Jade Bailey, 11, of Kenosha, about how she could help people who are losing their homes because of the economy.
Jade's mother, Donna, has been seeing fewer customers at her hair salon job and has not been able to find a new job, while her mortgage payments have been climbing. Their home has been foreclosed.
"We've got to stabilize the housing market or we will not escape a deep and broad recession," Clinton said. "Let's help them stay in their homes instead of pricing them out of their houses."
In response to a question from a Journal Times reporter on how she would address the problems created by the loss of manufacturing jobs in Racine and Kenosha, Clinton said her policy would be to reinvest in and support manufacturers as they try to keep and grow jobs, by methods such as making trade agreements tougher and creating a tax code so middle-class people would not see their standard of living get worse.
"There's so much we could do that would level the playing field, and I intend to do that," Clinton said. "I don't think you can have a strong economy, a strong country and certainly you can't have a strong middle class without a strong manufacturing base."
In the speech, Clinton also said she would create at least 5 million new jobs over 10 years by investing in renewable energy, training people for "green-collar" jobs such as installing solar panels and putting up wind turbines. She also said she would create a strategic energy fund of up to as much as $50 billion, paying for it by taking subsidies from oil companies.
Discussing her environmental plan led to one of the few jabs Clinton took during her speech at her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. He came to Wisconsin, she said, and basically gave her speech about energy.
"That's very flattering," Clinton said.
She said later that there is a big difference between the two Democratic senators when it comes to health care plans. Obama's plan would not accomplish what hers would, she said - covering the 47 million Americans who do not have health insurance, and those whose health insurance currently does not cover what they need.
"We're going to regulate these health insurance companies," Clinton said. "I am tired of them doing everything they do."
Clinton said she would end what she called the "unfunded mandate" of No Child Left Behind, and support preschool and pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds. She said she wants to make college affordable for every middle-class and low-income family; to do so she would double the tax credit to $3,500 and allow grandparents to take that tax credit. She also pledged to end the subsidized student loan industry. If students performed public service, she said, their debt for college would be forgiven.
Clinton said she would end the war in Iraq. She would begin withdrawing troops within 60 days of becoming president, and she said she would have all troops back home within about a year. Once the veterans are home, she said she would give them the health care, compensation and services they deserve.
She said she would make it clear to the Iraqi government that they must face their responsibility, and would pursue diplomatic efforts with other countries in the region.
"It's about figuring out ways to work with other countries on problems that affect us," Clinton said.
At the speech's end, Clinton said the voters should choose a president who recognizes that American values are the nation's most precious assets.
"We will once again feel pride in our country, make progress together, and yes, we will make history along the way," Clinton said.
Cher St. John-Bartlett, 50, of Kenosha, found Clinton's health care plan particularly appealing in a speech she said covered all the main topics.
"It seems like she tried to touch on everything for everybody," St. John-Bartlett said. "I thought she touched on a lot of good points."
Clinton's stance on college tuition hit home for David Tice, 55, of Grafton, who has two daughters, one of whom is still at school at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"They're starting out life in debt," Tice said. "The interest rates are outrageous."
For Jade, who asked Clinton about the troubles she and her mother were facing, talking with the Democratic nominee was an exciting experience.
"I've always wanted to ask one of our presidents a question," she said. "She had a very good response and I think she's going to be a very good, strong and capable president."