Friday, June 18, 2004 | 6:47 a.m.
RENO -- Making a brief campaign stop in Northern Nevada this afternoon, President Bush touted the nation's recovering economy and said Congress must make permanent the tax cuts that he believes helped the country out of recession.
But he didn't mention Yucca Mountain.
Bush told a cheering crowd estimated at 9,700 people at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center that nearly 1 million jobs have been added in the last 100 days.
Business is growing and personal income is on the rise, he said during a 40-minute speech that was repeatedly interrupted by applause.
"We're on the path of progress and opportunity and we're not going backward," he said.
Bush did not mention Yucca Mountain or his Department of Energy's plans to store high-level nuclear waste at the site.
But Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who are the co-chairmen of the Bush re-election effort in Nevada, said they talked to the president about Yucca Mountain.
Both said they agreed to disagree with Bush.
Guinn and Sandoval oppose the nuclear dump, with Sandoval leading the state's legal fight against it.
Guinn did not find it strange that the president did not mention Yucca in his speech. He said the issue has been talked out and will be decided by the courts.
In addition, Guinn referred to a public opinion poll that showed security and jobs were the top issues on the minds of Nevadans. He said Yucca Mountain was down the list.
Hundreds of demonstrators paraded on the streets at the convention center, carrying signs opposed to nuclear waste. Others said "Illegal president, illegal war" and "Peace is Patriotic."
A crowd of 6,500 was predicted but it turned out to be more than expected. Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, who was the master of ceremonies, joked, "Now you know what a sardine feels like."
Bush was introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who had opposed him in the GOP primary four years ago. McCain's name has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., but McCain has denied any interest.
McCain said Bush has "not wavered and not flinched from the hard choices. He has more than earned our support." He said the president deserves "support and admiration" for his battle against terrorism.
When Bush took the podium, he said McCain was a friend of both major party candidates.
"But he's got only one vote and I'm proud that it's me," Bush quipped.
Talking about the fight against terrorism, Bush said: "No cave or hole is deep enough to hide from American justice" for those involved in trying to harm the United States.
His speech was twice interrupted by chants of: "Four more years."
Bush credited his tax cuts when he said he had talked earlier with Joe and Tammy Barkowski of Reno, who he said saved about $2,200 in the 2003 tax year and will save a like amount this year.
If Congress fails to make the tax cuts permanent, the president said the family will pay about $1,000 more in 2005.
Bush picked a favorite Republican target when he said there must be federal legislation to protect small businesses from frivolous lawsuits and regulations. "There must be a choice between small business and trial lawyers and I made my choice -- small business," Bush said.
He predicted "tough times" in the near future in Iraq. The new government takes over in less than two weeks and he predicts there will be more bombings and more suicide missions.
The terrorists, he said, fear the new government. But he pledged: "We will not be intimidated by them."
Referring to other nations who do not support the United States in its efforts, Bush said, "We will never turn over American security to the leaders of other countries."
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said that Republican leaders were coming en masse to Nevada this week because "they're really worried" about the progress Democrats are making in the state.
Vice President Dick Cheney is making a brief stop Monday in Henderson at an invitation-only event.
"It goes to show you how nervous they are," McAuliffe said.
The Bush administration was expected to crow about job numbers released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, numbers that showed Nevada created 3,800 new jobs in May.
The total number of Nevada jobs created in the past year now numbers 50,000, according to the statistics.
And the Bush-Cheney campaign argues that 46 percent of the new jobs were created in industries that pay more than the national average.
For example, 32 percent of gross job growth was generated in the construction industry, which has an average non-supervisory hourly pay of $19.21, compared to the national average of non-supervisory jobs of $15.64, the campaign pointed out in a release.
The state's unemployement rate is 4.1 percent, compared with the national average of 5.6 percent.
The campaign also points to increasing personal incomes in the state, increasing housing values and increasing exports.
But McAuliffe said Friday that the average salary of the new jobs claimed by Bush is $9,000 less than what was earned by the people who lost jobs over the past few years.
"It's all these little service sector jobs that are being created," he said. "People working in fast food restaurants."
Kerry has pledged to create 10 million new jobs and cut the deficit in half, McAuliffe said.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry would help jump-start the country's economic engine by aiding the middle class and small businesses with tuition credits, health care credits and tax cuts for 98 percent of taxpayers, McAuliffe said.
The Kerry campaign also pointed out in a release that 20,240 Nevada households filed for bankruptcy in 2003, a 48 percent increase from 2000. And state households have seen increases in family health care premiums, gasoline costs, college tuition and child care costs, the campaign noted.
McAuliffe also criticized Bush's decision to allow the Yucca Mountain project to proceed, saying that Kerry has a 16-year history of working with Nevada to fight the dump.
While Bush promised to wait for "sound science" before proceeding with the dump, McAuliffe said there are still questions about the safety of transporting nuclear waste to the site and keeping it contained in the mountain.
"As a resident of Nevada, I would like a scientific study done if I'm going to bring up my family," he said. "I'd be very concerned. I'd think twice about it and I'd be darned mad at the commander in chief who promised me he wouldn't move it until it was safe. It just goes to the deception of George Bush."
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