Kerry offers worker rights bill during NH swing

Manchester Union Leader ^ | January 8, 2004 | Denis Paiste

[billorites]

BEDFORD — U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., castigated the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress yesterday as beholden to corporate greed, and he pledged to return fairness to the American economy.

Addressing a “Politics and Eggs” gathering at the Bedford Village Inn, Kerry lambasted the Bush administration for secret meetings with lobbyists, tax breaks for the richest Americans and a Medicare drug prescription bill crafted by the pharmaceutical industry.

The bill rewarded drug firms that spent $131 million on lobbyists to get Congress to bar the government from negotiating discounts on medicine for Medicare beneficiaries, most of whom are senior citizens, and banning the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada, he said.

“These are exactly the kind of special deals that infuriate the average American,” he said.

The Bush administration “has proven that you can get what you pay for,” he said. “In this administration, they’ve kicked in the revolving door, torn down the wall between public service and private profit, and stampeded into positions of power. Today’s Cabinet members are yesterday’s corporate board members, and former foreign lobbyists are put in charge of the very laws that export American companies and jobs,” he said.

To protect the financial security of consumers and small-time investors, Kerry said he would appoint a “director of family economic security.” The pocketbook watchdog would protect workers’ pensions and retirement benefits, protect personal information from identity theft, and ensure fair lending and housing.

“As President, I’ll fight for a worker’s bill of rights so that everyday Americans know their government is working for them,” he said.

Making reference to the pending permanent layoff locally of 550 workers at Jac-Pac, a division of Tyson Foods, Kerry said the company claims the plant is outdated even while its strips out equipment for shipment to other plants. “It sounds like the equipment is going to be treated better than the 550 workers left behind,” Kerry said.

He used Tyco, which used based in Portsmouth but has corporate offices in Bermuda, as an example of companies relocating offshore to avoid payment of U.S. taxes.

The Bush administration, he said, rewarded Tyco with $331 million in federal contracts.

“I believe it’s wrong for companies to turn their backs on their country, their community and their workers,” he said.

On the other hand, Kerry cited the example of Stratham-based Timberland, which he also visited yesterday, for showing corporate responsibility and being community minded. He praised the firm for offering child care, giving employees paid time off for community service, and providing fair wages and decent benefits.

Touting his pro-small-business role in the Senate, Kerry said, “I am a Democrat who believes in creating wealth.”

Kerry said although corporate profits were up 46 percent in 2003, the impact hasn’t been felt on Main Street. Wage growth for American workers was just 3 cents an hour, the lowest increase in 40 years.

[billorites]

“I am a Democrat who believes in creating wealth.”

Or failing that, marrying it.

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[Just mythoughts]

Sure would be an interesting read to see whom Mr. Kerry has met with in secret during his political life.