Posted on 02/19/2003 12:03:34 PM PST by GeneD
ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Democrat Richard Gephardt formally launched his 2004 presidential campaign on Wednesday, blasting the Bush administration's economic policies and promising to lead a crusade to "put hard-working Americans first."
In the packed gymnasium of his former elementary school in south St. Louis, the Missouri congressman stressed his working-class Midwestern roots and said the nation could not afford four more years of President Bush.
"I'm going to fight for you, and I'm going to win," Gephardt told a crowd jammed with family, friends and longtime supporters. "I'm running for president because I'm tired of leadership that's left us isolated in the world and stranded here at home."
Gephardt, 62, has served in Congress for a quarter century and brings an established political and fund-raising network to the Democratic race, which now has eight declared candidates with several more considering jumping in.
But he faces doubts about his political viability after failing to lead Democrats back to House control in four consecutive elections since 1994. He stepped down as House Democratic leader after November's elections.
He acknowledged the concerns of some Democrats that his image is too stale to lead the party against Bush in 2004, but told them not to worry.
"I'm not the political flavor of the month," Gephardt said. "I'm not the flashiest candidate around, but the fight for working families is in my bones. It's where I come from, it's been my life's work."
He argued that his experience at the highest levels of government mattered. "It's what our nation needs right now," he said.
Gephardt blasted Bush's record on the environment, energy, economy and foreign affairs, saying, "Bush has taken us right back to the broken policies of the past, the economics of debt and regret -- unaffordable tax cuts for the few, zero new jobs, surging unemployment."
"Never has so much been done in so little time to help so few," he said.
The Republican National Committee quickly issued a statement attacking Gephardt's record going back to 1988, saying the former St. Louis city alderman had been "tried, tested and rejected."
WANTS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
Gephardt, whose father was a milk truck driver and a member of the Teamsters, said he would scrap most of the remaining Bush tax cuts and institute health care coverage for every working American, a task he called "a moral imperative."
He also would press the World Trade Organization for an international minimum wage, push an aggressive "Apollo Project" for energy independence, create programs to attract new teachers and develop a system that would let each worker keep a single pension plan through multiple jobs.
"Every proposal I am making, every idea I'm advancing, has a single central purpose -- to revive a failing economy and give working Americans the help and the security they need," he said.
This is the second presidential bid for Gephardt, who won the Iowa caucuses in 1988 but saw his campaign falter and the money run dry after a second-place finish in New Hampshire.
He has heard grumbling from some rank-and-file Democrats about his cooperation with Bush last fall on a congressional resolution authorizing military action against Iraq, but he defended his position.
"I stand with this administration's efforts to disarm (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein and I'm proud that I wrote the resolution that helped lead the president to make his case to the United Nations," he said.
He warned, however, that the United States needed to work with the United Nations and keep the friendship of long-standing allies. "We must lead the world instead of merely bullying it," he said.
Gephardt hit the road immediately after the St. Louis announcement, heading out for a two-day swing through three states with early nominating contests -- Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
On Friday, Gephardt will return to Washington to address the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting, which will hear from most of the party's presidential hopefuls.
I wondered what all that laughing was about ...
and we might well be concerned as to how much of his behavior derives from his "friendship" with michael jackson. i personally believe that that is where he developed that trademark look of surprise and alarm.
dep
Now THAT will be a clarion call!
"I'm running for president because I'm tired of leadership that's left us isolated in the world and stranded here at home.""We must lead the world instead of merely bullying it,"
Dems don't get it. With the internet and talk radio their false talking points taken from the NYTimes or whatever "opinion makers" are known as false by the many. The "opinion makers" aren't the solid filter they used to be. Even so, the Dems sound like they are one or two months behind the spin.
The health care initiative is the cornerstone of an ambitious policy agenda designed to win what Gephardt called ``the contest of ideas.'' It is his answer to critics who say other Democratic candidates have more momentum or charisma.
Gephardt also said he would create:
-- A trust fund for homeland security costs.
-- A Teacher Corps in which the government would help pay tuition for students who agreed to teach for five years after college.
-- An international minimum wage, different for every nation, that would be established through the World Trade Organization. source
So9
Not only that -- FOX News (and CNN ??) broke away from his speech to show the doggie being rescued from the river-ice in N.J.
(c) TERMINATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT PLANS, INCLUDING ROTH IRA'S
From Bill HR 4482 107th Congress Written by Dick Gephardt.
I find only one meaning he is pointing to, AND IT REALLY TICKS ME OFF.
I am planing to send DG a letter asking him to explain why he tried to get this passed and what he exactly ment by it.
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