Andreas Jeninga/The Hoya Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry spoke to a capacity crowd in Gaston Hall on April 7 to deliver an economic policy address where he promised to cut the deficit, lower middle-class taxes and fund education and health care programs.

Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry urged a return to the fiscal discipline of the 1990s while slamming President Bush’s handling of the economy in a speech in Gaston Hall on April 7.

Kerry set forth his economic plan, sharpening his attention on the growing deficits and increased spending from the White House. If elected, Kerry said he would “slow down” some of his own spending initiatives to demonstrate his commitment to fiscal responsibility, and he lashed out against President Bush’s attempts to cast Kerry as a “tax and spend” liberal.

“Instead of a credible economic plan and an honest debate,” Kerry told the capacity crowd, “our present leadership has given us the old politics of false and simplistic negative attacks. I am committed to a different course.”

Last Friday the Labor Department reported that the economy had added 308,000 payroll positions in March, the highest in four years. But Kerry said Bush had lowered wages despite the recent job growth news.

“George Bush talks about a recovery, but doesn’t seem to realize that today we have a wage recession in America,” he said, “with millions of families struggling to pay higher health care costs, higher property taxes and higher college tuitions – all of it out of lower incomes.”

Kerry also slammed Bush’s increased spending measures, which he said had caused the federal government to run a deficit.

Since Bush took office, the federal budget went from a $237 billion surplus to a $375 billion deficit last year according to figures from the Congressional Budget Office.

Bush has blamed the deficit on a recession followed by the shock of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the price tag on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Kerry accused Bush for exacerbating the recession by spending $6 trillion over the next decade on tax cuts and government spending.

“From missions to Mars, to tax cuts for the wealthy, to a edicare bill that benefits drug companies and burdens seniors, the Bush administration has failed to pay for what it has proposed,” Kerry said.

Kerry promised renewed fiscal discipline by raising taxes against the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while cutting taxes for the middle class.

“For Americans making more than $200,000, we will simply roll back the Bush tax rates to the level they were under Bill Clinton to pay for education and health care,” he said.

Kerry also said that 99 percent of U.S. corporations would pay lower taxes under his proposals.

Speaking in front of a large banner that read “Fiscal Responsibility = A Stronger America,” Kerry proposed spending restraints so that “no one can propose or pass a new program without a way to pay for it.”

Kerry said he would cut the deficit in half in four years while expanding health coverage and creating new middle-class tax cuts, a plan that the Bush campaign has criticized because it would require either higher taxes or cutting programs. Kerry has not outlined which programs he would cut.

He also urged an end to corporate welfare and promised to sign legislation he has co-sponsored with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to eliminate pork spending.

“John McCain can’t get anyone in the Bush White House to listen to our proposal,” he said. “If I’m president, John McCain will get the first pen when I sign this bill into law.”

After finishing his speech, Kerry stayed for 15 minutes to sign autographs and greet students and guests before leaving for interviews with the press. Over 1,200 students had signed up for an online lottery to reserve a set for the lecture.

Kerry, who graduated from Yale University and lives in the Georgetown area, thanked the audience for their standing ovation after he took to the podium.

“Obviously school hasn’t changed,” he said. “Any excuse to get out of class, you feel exuberant.”