[Mb-civic] Edwards Slams Bush Campaign's Ad 'Lies'

[Michael Butler]

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  Edwards Slams Bush Campaign's Ad 'Lies'
  The Associated Press

  Monday 27 September 2004

   MANCHESTER, N.H. - John Edwards accused President Bush's re-election
campaign of lying in television ads about John Kerry's Vietnam War service
and his plan to reform health care.

   "They will absolutely lie about anything," the Democratic vice
presidential candidate said Monday at a rally in Victory Park attended by
hundreds of well-wishers.

  A Bush health care ad claims that Kerry would put health care decisions in
the hands of government "bureaucrats" at a cost of $1.5 trillion.
Independent analysts estimate the cost at $895 billion over 10 years, which
Kerry says he would pay for by repealing Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest
2 percent of Americans.

  "There's not a single new government program in our health care plan,"
which calls for strengthening existing government programs such as Medicare
and Medicaid, giving tax breaks to employers that provide health insurance,
and allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs from Canada, Edwards said.

  The North Carolina senator also criticized the Bush campaign's attacks on
Kerry's military service and Republican attempts to portray Kerry as a
supporter of al-Qaida and former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

  John Kerry "is the one candidate who's actually led troops in battle,"
Edwards said, referring to questions about whether Bush completed his
Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard.

  Edwards said Monday that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have been
consistent but consistently wrong. "He will never admit he's done anything
wrong," Edwards said of Bush. "They've made a lot of mistakes, and our
troops and our taxpayers are paying for that right now."

  Meanwhile, it was revealed that Edwards refused Monday to cross a local
firefighters' picket line and attend a Democratic fund-raiser. He was
scheduled to attend a reception at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown
Providence, R.I., that organizers hoped to raise about $500,000 for the
ticket.

  Outside the hotel, more than two dozen firefighters picketed over contract
negotiations with the city.

  Mark Weiner, a member of the Kerry-Edwards campaign team in Rhode Island,
announced Edwards would not attend the reception due to the firefighters'
picket.

  

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