Bush critics not swayed by his jobs pitch in Ohio
Originally published in the Marion Star
CLEVELAND (AP) -- President Bush pitched his economic policies to a businesswomen's conference Wednesday while demonstrators led by union members, environmentalists and anti-war protesters remained defiant outside.
"What, is he suddenly going to start doing everything he hasn't been doing for the entire length of his term," said Jennifer Brady, 48, a Democrat from suburban Westlake. Brady, among about 400 protesters, held a sign calling on Bush to stop wasting the nation's wealth and military.
"He can say whatever he wants to about jobs, but as long as he contributes to these huge deficits, those deficits just act as a counter against a good economy, because that money goes out and defeats the revitalization of our economy."
In a state that has lost more than 200,000 jobs since he took office, Bush tried to assure displaced workers that the economy is rebounding from several blows, including corporate scandals, the war with Iraq and terrorist attacks.
"That old policy of tax and spend is the enemy of job creation. The old policy of economic isolationism is a recipe for economic disaster," Bush said on his 15th trip to the critical electoral state. "Americans have moved beyond that tired, defeatist mind-set, and we're not going back. There's a better way."
The visit was Bush's first since the March 2 Ohio Democratic presidential primary won handily by Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive nominee. No Republican has been elected president without winning Ohio.
Kenneth Criveo, 20, of nearby Parma, who is on a one-month furlough from his security guard job because of lack of work, said Bush has had his chance to revive the economy.
"It's time for someone new to take charge and start getting results. Bush was here for four years and the results have been very, very low," he said.
Matt Oakes, 35, of Akron, said 30 percent of the 5,000 members of his Sheet Metal Local 33 in northern Ohio and much of West Virginia have lost their jobs since Bush took office. "That's because of the economy," Oakes said.
About a dozen Bush backers stood amid the chanting anti-Bush protesters, who carried placards reading "Retire Bush," "Bush lied" and "If you don't vote, people like Bush get elected."
Joseph Blagg, 25, of suburban Bay Village, took a break from his job at an investment firm to hold up a red, white and blue Bush-Cheney poster.
"I think it was important to be out here to show our support for our president, who is helping investors all across America, helping cut their taxes, helping reward their intelligence," he said.
There was some shouting and pushing between the Bush and anti-Bush groups, but police who ringed the convention center for the president's visit kept it peaceful.
Bush, who said most new jobs are created by small businesses, also toured Thermagon Inc., a 12-year-old Cleveland company with 90 employees that makes computer insulation.
He said he understood anxiety felt by Americans who are swept up in a changing economy.
"Some politicians in Washington see this new challenge and yet they want to respond in old ways," he said. "Their agenda is to increase federal taxes, to build a wall around this country, and to isolate America from the rest of the world."
In a speech in Washington, D.C., to top leaders of the AFL-CIO, Kerry vowed to ask those making more than $200,000 a year to pay the same taxes they paid under President Bill Clinton, effectively repealing portions of a tax cut Bush pushed through Congress.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, a Democratic candidate for president, said an economic revival required more than tax cuts for the wealthy.
"It requires federal spending, progressive tax cuts to people who need the money now, and real efforts to create new high-paying jobs," said Kucinich, who was discharged Wednesday after a two-day hospital stay for treatment of stomach flu.
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