Kerry promises 10 million jobs

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Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry yesterday promised to create 10 million jobs in four years as he laid out an economic plan that cuts corporate taxes and taxes on middle-income families, but raises taxes on high-income wage earners.

"I won't tell you that we can bring back every lost industry or every lost job or protect every job. But my plan will enable our economy to create jobs and to keep more good jobs here in America," he said.

Creating new jobs and stopping the loss of existing jobs to other nations has become the defining economic issue early in the campaign, as job growth has lagged behind the rest of the recovery.

Mr. Kerry's 10 million jobs pledge tops that of President Clinton, who at the beginning of his administration said the economy would create 8 million jobs -- a goal he topped by 3 million. During President Bush's term, meanwhile, the economy has shed more than 2 million jobs.

Speaking in Detroit in the first of a series of economic policy speeches he plans this spring, Mr. Kerry said he will cut the federal deficit in half in four years by reducing the size of the federal government.

Mr. Kerry also criticized Mr. Bush for his three tax-cut packages -- including one the Massachusetts senator himself voted for in 2002.

"He tried tax giveaways for the wealthy and the budget went into deficit and the country lost jobs. So he tried it again, and the budget went deeper into deficit and the country lost more jobs. He tried it a third time, and the country went into record deficit," Mr. Kerry said.

Those three bills were the 2001 $1.3 trillion tax cut, the 2002 post-September 11 stimulus package and the 2003 $350 billion tax cut. Mr. Kerry voted against the 2001 and 2003 bills, but for the 2002 package, which passed with broad bipartisan support. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, even attended the signing ceremony with President Bush.

Mr. Kerry's speech yesterday focused on corporate taxes and recovering jobs lost overseas.

• He wants to end a provision that allows U.S. companies to defer U.S. tax payments on income earned by foreign subsidiaries, as an incentive for those companies to move jobs back to the United States.