Senator Edwards, in N.H., assails Bush, offers a plan
Proposes a cut in bureaucracy
URL:http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/117/nation/Senator_Edwards_in_N_H_assails_Bush_offers_a_plan+.shtml
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff, 4/27/2003
ENNIKER, N. H. -- US Senator John Edwards yesterday proposed cutting the federal bureaucracy by 10 percent and postponing tax breaks for the nation's wealthiest people to help narrow the budget deficit and to pay for a $120 billion economic stimulus plan.
Laying out an economic plan that he hopes might help him win the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, Edwards struck a populist note, excoriating corporations for paying huge salaries to executives at the expense of ''people who work for a living.'' He also faulted the Bush administration for giving tax breaks to people Edwards said needed them the least.
''We need to restore people's faith in what is happening with corporate America,'' Edwards told a few dozen students, seniors citizens and other area residents who turned out at New England College to hear the North Carolina Democrat. ''We should have a law that says you can't have CEOs protecting their pensions at the same time they're monkeying around with the pensions of employees, people who work for a living.''
Reviving a Reagan campaign theme, later used by Bill Clinton to underscore voters' economic concerns,-- Edwards surveyed the group and asked: ''Are you better off than you were four years ago?'' When many in the crowd shook their heads, Edwards nodded. ''I spent 20 years as a lawyer. This is the easiest case I've ever had to argue,'' he said.
Asked by a voter if he was engaging in ''class warfare,'' Edwards replied with one of many rhetorical shots at President Bush.
''I've been able to do pretty well in my life. I'm not against people doing well,'' said Edwards, who grew up in a North Carolina mill town and became a millionaire as a trial lawyer before he was elected to the Senate. ''What I'm for is everybody having that chance.''
The group was receptive, but not all seemed convinced that Edwards was their candidate. Several did note, however, that as a Southerner, Edwards might have a better chance at winning a general election than a candidate from the Northeast. ''I am about whether he can win and beat Bush. It's most important to get rid of him and his chums,'' said Kirby Hall, 71, of Concord.
Edwards laid out a $120 billion package that he said would spur the ailing economy.
The plan would eliminate scheduled tax cuts for people in the top two tax rates -- generally people making more than $200,000 a year. That idea drew applause from the group, several of whom said afterward that they were struggling economically.
Edwards would also stop plans to phase out the estate tax, paid by people who inherit wealth. Under his plan, families could accept up to $7 million in inheritance without taxes. This, Edwards said, would guard against individuals from losing family businesses or small farms because of inheritance taxes. Those two tax changes would save the federal budget $1.5 trillion over 20 years, he said.
Edwards would also distribute $50 billion to states and towns, many of which are now running deficits and have had to lay off firefighters and police officers. Some of the money would be earmarked for security costs, he said.
Other Democrats have proposed plans that include modest tax cuts and spending to stimulate growth and job creation. Edwards's plan goes a step further, phasing out 10 percent of the federal work force over an unspecified period.
The idea is not likely to be welcomed by federal employee unions, which are fighting with the Bush administration over efforts to privatize some federal jobs. But Edwards said studies have shown that the cuts he was recommending could be made with little impact on services, and without layoffs.
Edwards said in an interview that the jobs would be eliminated through attrition. ''We wouldn't go in and start firing people,'' he said.
Edwards won applause when he derided the administration for its record on civil liberties. Later, Edwards said he did not regret his vote in 2001 for the Patriot Act, which gave enhanced the powers of the FBI and the Justice Department. ''The attorney general is using his discretion within the law in a way that erodes civil liberties,'' Edwards said.
This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 4/27/2003.
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