Lucye Rafferty/The Hoya Former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean outlined his economic policy in Gaston Hall yesterday.

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean repeated his promise to repeal President George W. Bush’s tax cuts if elected president in an economic policy speech yesterday in Gaston Hall.

The former Vermont governor lashed out against the president’s “Enron economics,” blaming Bush for over 3 million lost private sector jobs and record budget deficits.

“President Bush has brought the Enron model from Texas to Washington,” Dean told the capacity crowd.

Dean railed against the president for maintaining a policy of cutting taxes during an economic recession.

“What George Bush is doing is borrowing $1,000 in your name and handing you $250 of it,” he said.

Dean, however, said that he was not opposed to tax cuts in principle.

“In Vermont, I cut taxes so that businesses would come back to the state and bring job opportunities with them. It worked,” he said.

The speech aimed to introduce the basic proposals of Dean’s economic plan, which offered a series of broad-based goals, including the creation of more jobs and a promise to balance the budget.

“It’s much more fun to give a red meat speech but since this is a highfalutin academic institution, I’m going to deliver my economic policy speech,” Dean said after being welcomed to the podium by an enthusiastic crowd, largely composed of students who displayed their support for Dean with campaign stickers. He added, “But we’ll have a little fun at the president’s expense anyway.”

The Democratic front-runner in New Hampshire and Iowa, the first two states to hold primaries, proposed the creation of a “Fund to restore America” – a two-year, $100 billion fund designed to help states and local governments add at least one million new jobs to the economy.

The money for the fund, Dean said, would come from closing tax loopholes and corporate handouts.

A proposed small business fund would help “expand the secondary market for small business loans,” Dean added.

Dean decried the loss of 2.5 million manufacturing jobs to other countries with less stringent labor and environmental standards, but nonetheless expressed his support of globalization.

“Globalization is here to stay,” he said. “This is not a question of being for or against trade. The question is under what rules trade should be conducted, for whose benefit those rules should be drawn and how those rules should be enforced.”

The economic plan also called for renewed fiscal responsibility.

“We’re going to do what we did in Vermont: we will balance the budget,” Dean said. “In Vermont – the only state in the country whose constitution doesn’t require a balanced budget – I balanced the budget for 11 straight years.”

Dean said that President Bush and the Republican Party had failed the American people when dealing with the economy.

“You cannot trust the Republicans with your money,” he said, adding that President Bush “was not a conservative because he has no balanced budget and he is not a Republican because he keeps spending money.”

Dean encouraged students to remain active in politics while thanking his supporters for helping him in his campaign to take the White House in 2004.

“The power to change this country is in your hands, not mine,” he said.

Chris Wooley (COL ’06), a founding member of Hoyas for Dean, who introduced Dean, thanked him for his support of the liberal-wing of the Democratic Party.

“I admire that Dr. Dean has remained loyal to the Democratic party even when the Democratic party was not loyal to itself,” he said.

Students filled Healy Circle yesterday afternoon to greet Dean before he arrived.

While a handful of Georgetown Students for Dean showed their support of the candidate, about 15 members of Students for Kerry rallied, holding banners that attacked Dean for his support of Second Amendment rights – Dean has consistently received a high rating from the National Rifle Association for his support.

About 40-50 supporters of President Bush rallied as well, displaying “Bush-Cheney ’04” posters.

“We’re here to show that Georgetown students have many voices and that there are more options open to them than the nine confused Democrats,” College Republicans President David Benjamin (COL ’05) said.