Scrambling for votes, Bush, Kerry shift focus to battered economy

[papau]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1505&e=2&u=/afp/20040426/bs_afp/us_vote_040426081939

Scrambling for votes, Bush, Kerry shift focus to battered economy

Mon Apr 26, 4:19 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and his Democratic rival, John Kerry, will shift the focus of their electoral contest to the battered US economy, testing new ideas on ways to add muscle to a fledgling recovery. <snip>

The US economy has lost 2.5 million manufacturing jobs since July 2000 due primarily to an economic slowdown and so-called outsourcing, in which US companies hire cheaper labor overseas at the expense of American workers, according to labor activists.

With labor woes on his mind, Senator Kerry will head for West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan, an industrial heartland heavily dependent on car manufacturing.

Bush, meanwhile, travels to the northern city Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he will call for developing a hydrogen-powered automobile and giving ordinary Americans tax-free access to broadband Internet services. <snip>

The Massachusetts senator told reporters Thursday he wanted US automakers to take the lead in building new hybrid cars to maintain a competitive edge around the world and help Americans save money

[mhr]

1. Republicans Worst Nightmare - People Like Myself

Unemployed 4 years!

Two College Degrees: BSEE, MBA

Special Training: FAA Certified Commercial Pilot

Military Service: Officer United States Navy

Professional Work Experience: Long and Varied

Slowly becoming impoverished!

Can't get low income jobs - too much experience, too many illegal aliens
Can't find middle class white collar jobs - outsourced or already filled

Republicans say I and others did not work hard enough, or play by the rules well enough, or stay off drugs, or a whole host of other excuses used to dismiss the misfortune of others?

The argument does not hold water and myself and others are living proof of the lie!

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[papau]

3. Kerry: Bush Failed to Enforce Trade Pacts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4022785,00.html

Kerry: Bush Failed to Enforce Trade Pacts

Monday April 26, 2004 5:31 PM


By NEDRA PICKLER

Associated Press Writer

 WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) - <snip>Kerry said Bush is not taking action to stop jobs from going overseas, such as aggressively filing unfair-trade cases with the World Trade Organization, or WTO. <snip>

Kerry traveled nearly 1,000 feet below ground to tour a mine in Glen Easton, W.Va. When mine workers asked about how he would create more jobs, Kerry criticized Bush and said the government should invest in building more schools, roads and buildings. Such infrastructure investments would put 50,000 people to work for $1 billion, he said.<snip>

With China, for example, the report says the administration has taken limited action on software piracy from China and the country's unfair trade policies for cotton, poultry, soybeans, wheat and high-tech products. It also says Bush has not provided relief to American workers and companies hurt by increased imports from China. <snip>

Kerry's report notes that the administration has filed just 10 WTO cases during his three years in office, compared to 65 during the last six years of the Clinton administration. Democrats in Congress have also complained about that record.

Kerry offered a six-part plan to enforce trade agreements, including efforts to strengthen worker's rights, eliminate abusive child labor and stop illegal currency manipulation. He said he would double the U.S. Trade Representative's budget for enforcement and create an advocacy office there for small businesses.