Monday, June 21, 2004 | 11:27 a.m.
Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, made a short campaign stop in Henderson this morning to tout President Bush's plan for the economy.
"I can't think of a better place to talk about America's vibrant economy than here in Las Vegas, Nevada," Cheney said to a crowd of about 300 invited guests at the Henderson Convention Center. "This is one of the most confident and optimistic places in America."
Cheney said that 845,000 taxpayers in Nevada have seen a decline in their federal income taxes because of Bush's tax cuts. About 245,000 married couples in the state pay less taxes because of the reform of the marriage penalty. And another 210,000 families enjoy new child tax credits, he said.
"People in Nevada have more money in their pockets thanks to President Bush's tax cuts, and you're putting that money to better use than the federal government would," he said.
Cheney followed President Bush into Nevada. Bush was in Reno on Friday and also talked about the economy. Nevada is considered a "battleground" state after narrowly supporting Bush in 2000.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said on Friday 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.
Despite the Bush campaign's arguments, McAuliffe said that the average salary of new jobs is $9,000 less than the jobs lost in the past few years.
"It's all these little service sector jobs that are being created," he said. "People working in fast-food restaurants."
Cheney, like Bush on Friday, did not talk about the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, which Bush has allowed to proceed under his administration.
McAuliffe 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.
During the 2000 election Bush promised to wait for "sound science" before proceeding with the dump, but 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."
Cheney spokeswoman Ali Harden said the Cheney stop was purely a campaign event to talk about Bush's economic vision. "This is about the economy," she said.
Cheney did not hold fund-raisers while in town and left after the speech for a campaign rally in Springfield, Mo., she said.
Cheney's speech, which lasted less than half an hour, also touted Bush's plans to continue economic growth, including by making his tax cuts permanent.
Cheney argued that Congress should take several more steps including passing an energy plan now before Congress that he said would decrease the nation's reliance on foreign energy.
He also argued that Congress should pass a bill to reform medical liability so that doctors' malpractice insurance premiums will go down.
And he said the administration will continue to work to break down trade barriers. He told the group that 97 percent of America's exporters are small and medium-sized companies that fuel new job growth.
"All of America can be certain that we're going to maintain our optimistic, pro-growth, pro-entrepreneurial, pro-job strategy in Washington, D.C.," he said. "The right policies and the incredible energy and talent of American workers all across the country will keep a good thing going. We'll see even better days."
Cheney criticized Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry's economic programs, including his plans to roll back the president's tax cuts for families that make $200,000 a year or more. He continued the Bush-Cheney message that Kerry's criticism of the economy is "pessimism."
Kerry has pledged to create 10 million new jobs and cut the deficit in half, McAuliffe said.
Kerry would help 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.
Kerry would take more money from Americans' paychecks for the federal government, Cheney said. "We should do exactly the opposite of what Sen. Kerry proposes," he said.
Arturo Castro, a Las Vegas resident who owns Hispana Comunicacion Integral, an advertising and production company, said that Bush's tax cuts have helped him buy new equipment and hire more employees, and he's seen signs that the economy is improving.
"We can feel it, definitely," the 42-year-old said.
Gerri Tussing, a 63-year-old Las Vegas resident who said she owns a long-term care consulting business, also said she came to support the Bush-Cheney economic plan and tax cuts.
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