That's the wrong choice. That's the wrong direction. And that's the wrong leadership for America.
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And while we're spending that $200 billion in Iraq -- that's to this date; it will go on -- 8 million Americans are looking for work here in America: 2 million more -- 2 million more than when George W. Bush took office. And we're told that we can't afford to invest in job creation and job training here at home.
But for the Bush administration, helping Americans find a good job has never been the top priority. The first time that we really heard anything much about jobs has been in the last few months of this campaign. And I suggest to you that once every few months just before an election is not enough.
At that convention in New York last week, they actually told us that out-sourcing jobs was good for America. Now, that should not come as a surprise to you, because that's exactly what they've been doing for the last four years and that's exactly what they intend to do for the next four years.
That's the wrong choice. That's the wrong direction for America. That's the wrong leadership for America.
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As president, I intend to set a new direction. And it's one that's based on just fundamental, good old, mainstream American values and common sense.
Here's common sense: I will close the tax loopholes that actually ask you, with your tax money, to reward companies that ship the jobs overseas and, instead...
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And instead, we're going to do something else that leaps out at you in its common sense. We're going to take that money from the money that's encouraging people to go overseas and we're going to reward the companies that create and keep the good jobs right here in the United States of America.
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Because of this president's wrong choices we're spending $200 billion in Iraq, while the costs of health care are going through the roof. And we're told we don't have the resources to make health care affordable and available to all Americans, we don't have the resources to reimburse Medicare enough, we can't help the hospitals hire more nurses, we can't help people be able to afford to get it.
Americans now 45 million strong have no health insurance at all: 5 million more than the day George W. Bush took office.
KERRY: And after four years of action, four years of nothing, four years of no action, four years of no concern, four years of no meetings at which they really pulled people together and say, "How do we solve this problem together as Americans?" four years of no mention of those who are struggling to afford health care, suddenly the president finally told us last week that he actually had a plan.
Well, if you were wondering what it was, you only had to wait 24 hours to find out, because the very next day he raised the Medicare premiums by 17 percent; the biggest increase in Medicare in the history of our country.
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And here's the kicker: A lot of that money is nothing more than a windfall transferred payment from your pockets right into the health care companies and the HMOs. They're charging 17 percent more for Medicare while making America pay $200 billion for a go-it-alone policy in Iraq.
That's the wrong choice. That's the wrong direction. That's the wrong leadership for America.
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As president, I will set a new direction. George W. Bush believes that when it comes to health care the big drug companies come first, the insurance companies come second and you come last. Well, I'm going to put you first.
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Our plan is a real plan. I invite anybody listening, go to Johnkerry.com. It includes all the ways we're going to deal with children, with seniors, with health care. And it actually -- contrary to what the president who, once again, is misleading America, running around the country talking about tort reform -- it also includes a provision of medical malpractice and tort reform. So we will take on the waste and the greed in the health care system.
And you know what? We're going to save the average family up to $1,000 a year on their premiums. Our plan is going to help...
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And we don't just focus on the people who don't have the health insurance. We focus on the people who have it and lower their costs. And we focus on American business.
And we do it in a market way, in a responsible way. We invite business to be part of the solution. There's no mandate. There's no government program. There's no new bureaucracy. And we let Americans do what Americans want to do, which is choose their own doctor, choose their own plan, and have choices as to where to go, what to do.
