Addressing a crowd Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine said there is a "stark choice" between Republican and Democratic leaders seeking election this November: those who want to push ideology and "wedge issues," and the latter, who have set goals and achieved them during their terms.
First using Virginia – which he called a purple state – as an example, Kaine rallied a convention hall full of delegates with Democratic success stories and Republican blunders.
“You know, a few years ago, very few imagined that Virginia would be a battleground state,” said Kaine, a former Virginia governor who is in a dead heat with fellow former Gov. George Allen in a race for the U.S. Senate. “Virginia had last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964 but in 2008 we proudly cast our electoral votes for President Obama.”
“When I was governor during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Virginia maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in America,” he said. “We kept our Triple-A bond rating."
“Over the last four years the GOP pushed ideology and wedge issues," he said. "Just last week, they passed a platform demanding privacy for Super PACs and denying privacy to women making health care decisions.”
Kaine carried the the comparison to the national stage as well.
“The other side fights to protect subsidies for Big Oil,” he said. “We want to invest in America’s small businesses. They want bigger tax cuts for those who need it the least. We want to invest in our communities – the roads, bridges and infrastructure that will make us more competitive. They want to slash education and training. We want to invest in our future.”
Kaine stressed Democrats – including President Barack Obama – were leaders who accomplished the goals they set out to achieve.
“[Obama] said he’d pass healthcare reform, and he did,” Kaine said. “He’s a tough leader who gets results … We’ve been through tough times, but we’re tough people. Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”
The full text of former Gov. Kaine's speech can be found below.
It’s great to be here, especially with my friends from Virginia! A few years ago, few imagined that Virginia would be a battleground state. Virginia had last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964, but we proudly cast our electoral votes in 2008 for President Obama. In 2006 and 2008, we elected two outstanding senators—Jim Webb and Mark Warner. And together, we’re going to win again in 2012!
How did Virginia go from red to purple? We did it with grassroots excitement and hard work. And we showed Virginians that Democrats get results. When I was governor, during the worst recession since the Great Depression, Virginia maintained one of the lowest unemployment rates in America. We kept our AAA bond rating. We were named most business-friendly state, best managed state and best state to raise a child.
We cut billions from the state budget, while making critical investments in schools, roads and bridges. We worked with Democrats, Republicans and independents to get results.
Over the last four years, the GOP pushed ideology and wedge issues. Last week, they passed a platform demanding privacy for Super PACs and denying privacy to women making health care decisions. Meanwhile, Democrats fought for the middle class.
We cut taxes for 95 percent of American families. We went from 25 months of job losses to 29 straight months of private-sector job growth. The auto industry is back. Manufacturers are hiring again, but we’ve got to do more. And there’s a real choice.
The other side fights to protect subsidies for Big Oil. We want to invest in our small businesses. They want bigger tax cuts for those who need it least. We want to invest in our communities—the roads, bridges and infrastructure that will make us more competitive. They want to slash education and job training. We want to invest in our future.
There’s just as stark a choice when it comes to fixing our budget. The last time they were in charge, the other side turned a record surplus into a massive deficit with two wars, trillions in tax breaks, loopholes and entitlements they wouldn’t pay for. Now, they’re pushing budget-busting tax cuts and economy-busting spending cuts.
To pay for their plan, they’d slash middle-class tax breaks, raising taxes on the middle class. They’d turn Medicare into a voucher system. And rather than raise taxes on the wealthy by a single penny, they’d put thousands of defense jobs at risk. Let’s be clear: That’s not fiscally responsible. That’s fiscally reckless.
We can’t afford to try it again! We need to move forward, because while we’ve made progress, we still have a long way to go. We’ll only get there if we elect leaders who put results ahead of ideology.
I support President Obama, because he’s that kind of leader. He said he’d end the war in Iraq, and he has. He said he’d draw down troops in Afghanistan, and today every Virginia National Guard unit is home for the first time in a decade. He said he’d go after bin Laden and take out al-Qaida. He did, and a SEAL team earned our nation’s gratitude.
He said he’d pass health care reform, and he did. He promised he’d fight for equal pay for women, college affordability for students and fair treatment for LGBT Americans—and he’s kept his word. He’s a tough leader who gets results.
Next week, we commemorate the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Many Virginians lost their lives at the Pentagon that day and in the wars we’ve fought since. As governor, I went to funerals of Virginia Guard members. I know people who lost their kids and soldiers who returned, their lives forever changed. Their sacrifice reminds us we’re not Democrats or Republicans first. We’re Americans first.
We’ve been through tough times, but we’re tough people. Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. Let’s come together, show how tough we are and prove our best days will always be ahead of us.
Along with Kaine, other featured speakers Tuesday include Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, First Lady Michelle Obama, former president Jimmy Carter and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Former president Bill Clinton will be a featured speaker Wednesday. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will accept the party nomination in speeches Thursday.
The official convention website can be found here.
Karen Goff contributed reporting for this story.
Allen voted four times to raise the debt limit. He voted four times to raise his own pay. He voted six times against any PAYGO restrictions (that is, financing expenditures with funds that are currently available rather than borrowed). He voted for a ton of earmarks, amounting to millions of dollars of spending. When he had the opportunity to make $1 Trillion in cuts on the first sequestration deal, Allen opposed it. Later on, he was one of a group of Republicans who attempted to hold the debt ceiling vote hostage as a way to supposedly leverage more cuts. As a result, the U.S. credit rating was downgraded, due to – according to S&P -- the uncertainty and lack of confidence created by the brinkmanship of national lawmakers. In short, George Allen doesn’t really make cuts. His record is a spending record. In my opinion, he has been fiscally irresponsible, voting to spend without any concern of how things will be paid for, leading to massive deficits. Allen talks like a fiscal conservative but he doesn’t govern like one. I prefer Kaine.
I am fiscally conservative and will support legislation to reduce Federal taxes overall. It doesn’t matter to me if that legislation originates from Republican or Democratic sponsors. Kevin Chisholm Candidate for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District www.chisholmforcongress.com
I disagree. The one thing Washington can do that would help the average American is to reduce Federal taxes – and yes over the long haul. The other is to be honest with people and talk about real solutions to climate change. Generally speaking, we need to stop feeding the monster of lies such as: America needs to keep maintaining our huge military apparatus (of ships, planes, etc.). And Republicans are finally telling the “far right” to stifle it on abortion and other supposed family values that has been their broken record for years.
The single largest increase to the public debt (not the overall debt) has come from the Obama administration. The Obama administration has piled on more the $6.4 trillion + to the public debt while the first 43 Presidents combined added $6.3 trillion. As John Adams said, facts are stubborn things.
About those debt “facts,” yes they can be stubborn things. For instance, there is gross debt and there is debt as a percentage of GDP. One way to put historical gross debt into perspective is this: From the year 2000 to the year 2008 (Bush’s term) the national debt went from $5T to $10T. And from the year 2009 to the year 2012 (Obama’s term), the debt went from $11T to $16T. So which President added the most debt? Also, the country experienced a much higher debt as a percentage of GDP during the Truman administration, when it was at about $120%.
But instead, our so-called 'leaders' played every financial game, setting up an independent clown show at MWAA that ran costs up amazingly, thank you, and creating a bogus funding plan that will raise tolls so high that tens of thousands of drivers will flee from the toll road. Way too many of these drivers will not be taking the train - because the train only goes to certain places, and they need to go somewhere else. But the tolls will be so usurious that they will flee to the side roads to avoid bankruptcy in the post-2012 world of 'sequestration' and 'devolution' that will stress our regional economy very forcefully, and they will choke the side roads to an extent that has never been seen. You think it's bad now? Just wait. So: a double price for a premature project that we can't afford. Thank you so much, Mr. Kaine.
In January 2001 when Bush Jr. took reins from Clinton. US debt stood at approx $5 triilion. Annual surplus was $500 billion. Ten year projected surplus - $5 Trillion. According to the projections, the US would have paid off all its obligations by the end of the last decade. In January 2009, after 8 years of Republican rule (6 of which Republicans controlled all two arms - all of congress and the White House). US debt stood at approx $10 trillion. Annual projected deficit $1.4 trillion. Ten year projected deficit - more than $10 Trillion. According to the projections, the US would remain in debt, indefinitely. The truth is simply this. The Republicans created a structural crises with their ill-informed tax cuts and health care market re-engineering of the early 2000. Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you. The GOP blew it. Now the policy to is take us back to what created this problem? No thank you. No way, no how.
You've been following too much GOP propaganda . . . even the same phrasing. Kaine's term as Governor was Jan 2006-Jan 2010. As DNC Chm Jan 2009-April 2011. That's ONE out of 4 years serving in both jobs – NOT "most of his term as Governor out of the State". Regarding the classic "tax and spend Dem" characterization -- that old saw is a joke, and informed people know it. There is not space to go into the profiles of which party taxes most and which spends most, but it's well-known that Pres. Bush gave tax cuts to the rich (that current Republicans in Congress will not allow to expire as the original act specified)…not to mention unfunded wars and other unfunded measures. So how much has Obama actually added to the debt? There are two answers: more than $4 trillion, or about $983 billion. The first answer is simple and wrong. The second answer is more complicated but a lot closer to being right. You will have to think to get this, but you can see a clear explanation at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/column-doing-the-math-on-obamas-deficits/2011/08/25/gIQALDBchQ_blog.html
Whoops – that’s backwards! My post at about 10:50 pm on Sunday Sept 9 has a link at the end: “Doing the math on Obama’s deficits“. Really read that article, because, in fact, Obama’s policies are reducing the debt. “For comparison’s sake, using the same method, beginning in 2001 and ending in 2009, George W. Bush added more than $5 trillion to the deficit. You can see the breakdown in the chart atop the post, or in a larger, more readable, chart here.” MYTH: “Democrats are big spenders”. Clear and simple REALITY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiW5I95R5xg . WATCH IT & THINK FOR YOURSELF!
In the 13 peer-reviewed scientific studies summarized below, researchers found that liberals and conservatives have different brain structures, different physiological responses to stimuli, and activate different neural mechanisms when confronted with similar situations. Each entry below references the source document, and in most cases, a PDF of the study has been included. The studies are arranged from most recent to oldest. We included all the peer-reviewed studies on this subject which we could find. http://2012election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004818 So you see this is a hopeless discussion.
Bush squandered our good Clinton–era economic position by participating in two unfunded wars, expanding Medicare without funding it, and allowing tax cuts when we couldn’t afford it. I believe we should have gone directly to Afghanistan after 9/11, and not gone to Iraq. The whole world would have been behind us and we would not have had to fund two a wars, essentially on our own. We should have found a way to fund the Medicare expansion when it was passed, maybe through some of the money we could have saved in tax cuts. We should not have kept extending the tax cuts, which were initially meant to be temporary. Obama has also spent a lot of money but, in my opinion, much of his spending has been directed at trying to keep our country from falling off the economic cliff, spending money to save the auto industry, spending money to extend unemployment relief, spending money on his job creation bill, etc. Like “Locally Involved” said above, I don’t want to go back to those old policies that got us into this mess to begin with.
I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I have a hard time accepting some of your analogies. For instance, comparing Obama’s Presidency to Lincoln’s Presidency during the Civil War is a hard comparison to make. FDR accomplished the things you mentioned at the end of his third TERM. Obama hasn’t even gotten to the end of his 4th YEAR. And it was during Reagan’s term is that the deficits really started to get jacked up. Where was the concern about deficits then? And, again, we must ask ourselves, why does Obama need to spend all this stimulus money in the first place? (PS: Saving jobs does help jump-start the economy. People work, pay taxes, and have more money to spend on other things which, in turn, help spur growth in other market sectors). I know, I know – Bush is not running for President, Romney is. But the reason I keep harking back to Bush is because Romney’s direction seems to be very similar to Bush’s former direction: increase defense spending, cut taxes, don’t show how you can pay for your expenditures. Not to mention, I think it is pretty obvious that Romney will move us WAY backwards on civil right issues.
It is also sad that, while millions are out of work and/or hungry, millions of ad-dollars and energies are being wasted by trying to influence the small percentage of undecided voters. I am not able to totally agreed with anything being "hopeless" -- well perhaps with the exceptions of George Allen and the R&R team. :-)
Here are numbers they are NOT telling you: 1) 368,000 people STOPPED looking for work in August. Meaning they CANNOT be counted as unemployed. These people have no more unemployment benefits to claim and have realized there are zero jobs out there for them. If you were to re-calculate those numbers and include the people who are no longer looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 12%. This number does not include the UNDEREMPLOYED, or the people who have stopped looking for work over the past 3 years; that number would be an astonishing 23%. 2) 69% of men are working. Meaning 31% are not. The lowest % of working men since the 1940's. 3) The number of employed Americans is at the lowest number in the past 31 years. An incredible number considering there are more people now in the USA than there were in 1981. 4) A record high of 88,921,000 Americans whom are not in the civilian labor force. 5) Manufacturers have cut the most jobs in August than at anytime in the past two years. 6) The supposed "job growth" each month is LESS THAN the number of people LEAVING workforce every month. People leaving the work force CANNOT be counted as unemployed. Are these the results you want? Get America back on track. VOTE ROMNEY/ Ryan
Why I will "never" vote Democratic again! http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/48634
That is not enough to "never" vote Democratic. Doing so gives away our nation, for which my relatives bled and died as they served. It gives away America to the Corporatocracy--the"companies are people" crowd, the out-of-touch special interests that will do away with so many of the things good people in America have workd sor generations to conserve: clean water and air, public lands owned by all of us not a few, freedom to not be totally enslaved by Wall Street and the petroleum industry and huge agribusiness. Not to mention the promises to get rid of EPA, Medicare, most science agencies--that are the incubators for new advances in many disciplines, and even privatize the nationa highway and rail systems. I'm so glad he put "never" in quotes.
“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Great selection by Kaine! (not)
http://youtu.be/_eTXdQTmOSg