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E-mailEdwards attacks Bush on domestic policies
"The people of America deserve a president who will be straight with them about what's happening in Iraq, who will be straight with them and tell them the truth about what's happening with jobs here in America, who will be straight and tell them about the health care crisis that's happening right now, and somebody who has a real plan and real ideas to make it better, not just more of the same," Edwards said.
Edwards, a North Carolina senator, emphasized his blue collar roots while addressing a largely blue-collar audience in Scranton. He criticized the Bush administration for not doing enough to prevent outsourcing of jobs, and for supporting drug companies while health care and prescription drug costs rose.
Sporting his trademark smile, the North Carolina senator said Bush had a poor economic record, referring to employment numbers released Friday morning. The statistics showed 96,000 new jobs in September, a drop of more than 20 percent from the August figure.
"The new job numbers came today, and it's just a continuation of the same, not nearly enough jobs to take care of the new people coming into the work force," Edwards said.
The Bush-Cheney campaign said Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's plans would hurt the economy.
"The American worker and the U.S. economy have created nearly 2 million jobs in the past year, with two-thirds of them above the national average wage," said Brian Jones, a Bush campaign spokesman. "With a low 5.4 unemployment rate, the bottom line is the economy is strong and getting stronger. John Kerry's plans for higher taxes and over $2 trillion in government spending would reverse our economic recovery and destroy jobs."
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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