Dean Wants to Put $100B to Create Jobs
Mon Dec 29,10:54 AM ET
story.news.yahoo.com
Excerpt:
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN, Associated Press Writer
LANSING, Mich. - Democratic presidential candidate Howard
Dean wants to improve the nation's cities by putting
$100 billion toward creating a million jobs, increasing the federal
minimum wage to $7 an hour, and providing credit for urban businesses.
The former Vermont governor planned to unveil
his Initiative to Strengthen the Nation's Cities
during a Monday afternoon campaign stop in
downtown Detroit. In an advance copy of the
plan obtained by The Associated Press, Dean
said he would help put people back to work
by creating a $100 billion Fund to Restore
America aimed at adding at least a million
jobs in the first two years it's in place.
Cities and regions would use these funds to create jobs in education,
health care, homeland security and other critical areas. The fund also
would support local programs that help create, promote and retain good
jobs and train workers in disadvantaged communities.
Dean said he also wants to protect worker overtime pay and create a
Small Business Capital Corporation to invest $1 billion in new loans
aimed at creating 100,000 new small-business jobs in the first three
years.
His plan would set up a national fund to provide a permanent source of
funding to build, rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing for low- and
moderate-income families, and double the amount for the Community
Development Block Grant program to $10 billion.
Dean said his plan is needed because President Bush 's policies
have weakened American cities.
"Families in America's metro areas face a high cost of living," Dean says
in a news release. "If they're working hard and playing by the rules, they
shouldn't have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. That's why my
initiative is aimed at creating jobs, promoting investment in small
business, boosting wages and helping families afford housing.
"We cannot afford to waste four more years under an administration that
ignores the potential as well as the problems of our cities," he said.
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On the Net:
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