At rally, residents tell candidate of hardships

John Kerry called the Bush administration 'radical' and 'extreme.'
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The Democratic presidential nominee didn't mince words during a "town-hall-style" meeting, saying his plan to lead the nation during the next four years is significantly better than President Bush's.
U.S. Sen. John Kerry said Bush caters to the wealthy and is out of touch with regular Americans.
Kerry spoke Sunday at Austintown Fitch High School's gymnasium. The Mahoning County Democratic Party distributed 800 free tickets to the event, but the gym appeared to have more than that number of people. Also, dozens of local Democratic political figures attended the event.
The highly partisan crowd cheered and booed at the right times. Before the event, the school's scoreboard read: John Kerry 1, George W. Bush 0.
The event was designed to outline Kerry's economic and jobs plan, but the Democratic presidential nominee also spent time discussing the war on terrorism and the conflict in Iraq.
He specifically pointed to an article in Sunday's New York Times that noted that the White House embraced the theory that aluminum tubes bound for Iraq before the war were for nuclear centrifuges despite contrary views from America's leading nuclear scientists.
"We really need to come together as a country more than ever before," he said. "The beginning is to level with the American people. The American people need to know the president is leveling with them."
Economic issues
As for the economy, Kerry said Bush and his supporters say it is getting better every day. But Kerry said recent job figures for Ohio show that is not the case. Ohio's unemployment rate is higher than the national average.
"I will not only protect our nation and fight a more effective war on terror, but I'll fight for us at home and restore fiscal responsibility," he said.
Kerry wants to end the tax breaks given to the richest 2 percent of American citizens and close loopholes that allow companies to move out of the country to reduce their tax burden. Kerry wants to use that money to provide health care and to fund education.
Kevin Madden, a Bush-Cheney spokesman, said Kerry's plan is out of touch with Ohioans.
"Working families and small businesses are the ones that get hurt when the tax burden is increased," he said.
"Instead of taking money from Ohio taxpayers, and putting it into the government treasury in Washington, President Bush believes we should be encouraging more investment and more expansion in local businesses as a way to grow Ohio's economy and create jobs."
Wealthy vs. middle class
When faced with helping the middle class or the rich, Kerry said Bush chooses those with the most wealth.
"Bush rewards companies that go overseas," Kerry said. "I want to reward companies for staying in America. It sounds so fundamental, but it's true."
Kerry's plan includes tax incentives and credits for companies staying in the United States as well as reducing health-care costs. Those savings would make it easier for companies to succeed, expand and hire more employees, he said.
"Everything is going up in America except wages," he said. "I'm going to change that."
If elected, Kerry said the first bill he would send to Congress would be to make health care affordable and accessible to every American.
This was Kerry's fourth visit to the Mahoning Valley. Jennifer Palmieri, a Kerry campaign spokeswoman, said the Democratic nominee will be back in the Valley before Election Day to hold a rally.
Sunday's "town-hall-style" meeting was intended to permit Kerry to interact with and take questions from people about key issues in an intimate setting, she said.
During the discussion, Kerry criticized Bush for taking the nation's $5.6 trillion surplus in 2001 to a $2.6 trillion deficit today.
"There's nothing conservative about these people," he said. "They're radical. They're extreme."
Republican response
When asked about Kerry's statement, Madden said, "John Kerry spends an awful lot of his time on the campaign trail running away from an unimpressive record that consists of vote after vote for higher taxes and more government spending."
Before the Austintown event, Kerry met with locked-out RMI Titanium Co. workers. The Weathersfield Township company has locked out its workers for about a year.
Ray Raschilla Jr., a locked-out RMI worker, spoke at the Kerry event in Austintown. Raschilla said the Bush administration has done nothing to discourage companiessuch as RMI from locking out workers.
Raschilla said the layoff devastated his family and forced him to choose to pay his house mortgage and no longer pay his health-insurance premiums. After Raschilla spoke, Kerry said the lockout led to the break-up of the Niles man's marriage.
Lost MCI job
Also speaking was Sophia Taylor-Richards of Youngstown, a single parent of one child and four foster kids, who lost her job at the MCI call center in Niles. The company closed its Niles operation earlier this year as a result of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
"I still haven't found a job, and I can't afford health insurance," she said. "I can't survive in the Valley without a job. I believe Sen. Kerry can help us."
Before Kerry's speech, local elected officials told the crowd that the only way to turn around the Valley's struggling economy is to put a Democrat in the White House.
"I am so tired of hearing the Republicans say the economy is good, and we're thriving," said Campbell Mayor Jack Dill. "My community is devastated, absolutely devastated. We need jobs."
skolnick@vindy.com