Blade - Sherrod Brown reveals plan to develop Ohio
Sunday, April 23, 2006
(The Toledo Blade)Brown reveals plan to
develop Ohio
By JIM
TANKERSLEY
BLADE POLITICS
WRITER
U.S.
Rep. Sherrod Brown unveiled a sprawling
economic platform for his U.S. Senate bid
yesterday, blending trade restrictions, small
business support, prescription-drug costs, and
college affordability, and vowing to make Ohio
"the Silicon Valley for alternative energy
development."
Mr. Brown is a Democrat from
Avon who is challenging U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine
(R., Cedarville) in one of the nation's
most-watched Senate races. He launched a
two-day "Road to Change" tour yesterday at the
University of Toledo.
His speech merged several
familiar Brown campaign themes, including a
call to revamp international trade pacts to
protect American workers, a proclamation that
manufacturing will "rebuild this state," and
digs at pharmaceutical companies, Wall Street,
cheap labor in China, and President Bush.
"For too long, we have been
told that our manufacturing base is a lost
cause," Mr. Brown said, adding a moment later:
"We've been led to believe that our future is
no longer in our hands. Well I don't buy that,
and neither do Ohio families."
Republicans fired back with a
press release touting Mr. Brown's low
congressional rating from several business
groups and his votes against tax cuts. Bob
Bennett, the state GOP chairman, said in the
release that Mr. Brown's record saps his
economic credibility.
"Small businesses are
responsible for two out of every three jobs
created in this country," Mr. Bennett said in
the statement, "yet Sherrod Brown votes against
these individuals and companies nearly every
chance he can get."
Mr. Brown's plans include what
appears to be increased federal spending in
areas such as small business loans, alternative
energy research, college financial aid, and
mass transit. He did not provide cost
estimates. He said he would pay for spending by
rolling back tax cuts Mr. Bush pushed in his
first term.
The plans also include policy
changes, such as curbing prescription costs and
negotiating new trade deals to stem what Mr.
Brown called a loss of more than 185,000 Ohio
manufacturing jobs to foreign countries.
Several of Mr. Brown's lines
echoed another Democrat running statewide: U.S.
Rep. Ted Strickland (D., Lisbon), the party's
front-runner for governor.
Mr. Brown said to expect more
of that: "Congressman Strickland and I think a
lot alike about this state." In a phone
interview, Mr. Strickland agreed: "Our
campaigns will complement each other," he said.
Contact Jim Tankersley
at:
jtankersley@theblade.com
or
419-343-5933.
