Obama announces manufacturing plan
Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 2:57 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
WARREN, MI -- Obama today began his first primary season trip to Michigan by announcing his manufacturing agenda at a town hall in Macomb County, a place that has come to symbolize the very Reagan Democrats whose votes he hopes to win in the fall should he become the nominee.
Fresh off a 41-point loss to Clinton in West Virginia that signaled a weakness for the candidate in the Appalachian region, Obama forged ahead, confident his lead in the popular vote, states won, pledged delegates, and superdelegates would be enough to win the nomination, with just five contests to go.
Here in Warren, he unveiled his proposals for reviving American manufacturing. The plan includes a $150 billion fund to promote and develop clean energy technology over 10 years -- which he says will create up to 5 million green jobs -- a $60 billion infrastructure fund and a $1 billion-a-year start-up fund for small and mid-size manufacturers to convert to clean technology. He would pay for this agenda through a cap-and-trade system that would auction permits for carbon dioxide emissions, a spokesman said.
"This is a moment of challenge. It’s also a moment of opportunity, and the question you’ll face in November is: Which candidate can lead America to seize those opportunities?” the Illinois senator said to shouts of “Obama” from the audience. “Now, when John McCain came to Michigan in January and said that we couldn’t bring back all the jobs that had been lost back to America, he was right. We can’t bring back every single job. But where he’s wrong was in suggesting that there’s nothing we can do to replace those jobs or create new ones, to build off the incredible skill of the workforce here in Michigan and throughout the Midwest and to build off the expertise that we’ve created in manufacturing over decades here in this region. Where he’s wrong is in not offering policies and new solutions that are different from what George Bush has been offering over the last seven and a half years.”
Obama said McCain was against the kind of job training that can help make sure people can compete in a global economy and said he did not have a universal health-care plan. While Obama calls his plan universal, Clinton says it would leave out 15 million people because it does not mandate that people buy coverage.
The Illinois senator also hit McCain again on his opposition to a GI Bill being debated in Congress, arguing he had the wrong priorities." Part of what he’s arguing is well, 'We won’t be able to retain people because people will go get a college education instead of staying in the Army,” he said as the audience tittered. “"That’s not a good argument. Yes some people will leave to pursue their higher education, that’s what built this middle class in this country -- that’s what we want. On the other hand, we’ll be able to recruit a lot more people to go in because they know that the benefit is actually meaningful,” he said. “And by the way, this costs maybe two billion. John McCain has called for three to four hundred billion dollars worth of corporate tax breaks to, you know, building on what George Bush did and he’s saying we can’t afford two billion to provide our GI’s the kind of education they need? It doesn’t make any sense and that’s why, that’s why we’re gonna beat him here in Michigan.”
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded to Obama’s speech in Warren, saying “"It’s weak leadership and poor judgment for Barack Obama to make empty promises of billions upon billions in new spending on more government programs when he has no way to pay for it. Sen. Obama launched a partisan-style attack questioning John McCain's straight talk, without providing any evidence of his own leadership or experience on the issues that are hurting Michigan and states like it. John McCain believes that we can grow our economy and help workers by lowering taxes, ending wasteful spending, reducing health care costs, reforming our unemployment system and promoting energy independence.”
Michigan and Mississippi
Obama last campaigned in Michigan in June, when he spoke at an NAACP event and he gave a speech at the Detroit Economic Club in May, according to a spokeswoman.
Although Michigan was stripped of all its delegates after moving up its primary to January 15, Clinton won the contest, while Obama’s name was not on the ballot. Obama has said he is committed to reaching a compromise to seat both states’ delegations at the Denver convention in August. He again addressed the issue briefly during the Q&A after his speech.
"“We feel very confident about our ability to win Michigan,” he began. “"Now obviously, because of the whole hoopla around when Michigan held its primary, my name was not on the ballot and we did not do campaigning here. And I want to just remind everybody that wasn't my choosing. That was, we were just, what we do is just -- tell us what the rules are and then we play by the rules. You know, you tell me we're supposed to do this, we'll do that -- if you want something else, we'll do something else. Now, fortunately, if I'm fortunate enough to be the Democratic nominee, I'll have some say about what the rules are, and I can guarantee you that we will make sure that the Michigan delegation is seated and that they are going to have a full voice in what happens in the convention.”
Obama also sought to address any concerns people may have about the likelihood he could hurt Democrats in some areas down-ticket if he is the nominee, gleefully talking about the results in yesterday’s Mississippi special election in which Democrat Travis Childers beat Republican Greg Davis in a staunchly Republican county, despite Davis’ efforts to link Childers to Obama.
"They [Republicans] just lost an election yesterday in the heart of Mississippi,” he said. “This hard core Republican seat and they lost it by eight points and they did everything they can.. They ran ads with my face on it and they said, 'Oh, you know, look at this -- you know, former liberal and, you know, his former pastor said offensive things.' I mean, they were trying to do every trick in the book to try to scare folks in Mississippi. And it didn't work, and the reason it didn't work is because the American people know we need a new direction in Washington. That's why we're gonna win Michigan, that's why we're gonna beat John McCain here in Michigan.”
