Kerry addresses Lynn crowd, presents solutions for crisis

LYNN – A $100 billion investment in bridge and road repairs, and $25 billion in federal aid to states are two ways U.S. Sen. John Kerry said the nation can dig itself out of the current economic crisis.The 2004 presidential candidate’s analysis of the financial mess and his prescription for getting out of it earned him a standing ovation Tuesday from a crowd of 450 who gathered in North Shore Community College’s gymnasium.Kerry said the federal government also needs to spend money on ensuring every part of the country has access to fast and reliable Internet access, likening the idea to the Rural Electrification Administration created in 1935.”If we had today’s Republican party in the White House during the Great Depression, I’m afraid a lot of farmers would probably still be reading by candlelight.”Kerry blamed the downturn on “fraudulent” lending practices coupled with banks “leveraging” or extending credit amounts far in excess of available cash on hand.”Under the guiding mantra of the Reagan and Bush administrations” financial institutions spawned a “shadowy market totally divorced from reality.””What we’re seeing is the shaking out of the market,” Kerry said, adding that he proposed anti-predatory lending measures in 2000.”We couldn’t get a single Republican to stop the joyride they were on,” he said.Kerry stepped beyond partisan politics in his speech to acknowledge “the nation lost sight of what risk meant.” He called the bailout package “one of the most distasteful and infuriating votes I’ve ever taken.””But I took it to help the homeowner on Chestnut Street.”He said the bailout is structured to ultimately “make the taxpayers” money on assets purchased through the bailout and said a “second stimulus” plan needs to be initiated to extend unemployment benefits and increase Food Stamps and heating oil purchasing assistance.”We’re living in the most devastating financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Working Americans may not have felt the worst of this yet.”Ultimately, Kerry said American innovation must rev the economic engine back to peak performance.”We need to provide real incentive through energy efficiency,” he said, adding he thinks the earned income tax credit should be temporarily increased by $300 to help low-earning Americans pay heating bills this winter.Kerry faces Republican Jeffrey Beatty at the polls Nov. 4. He is only one in a handful of people who know what it feels like to be Barack Obama or John McCain this week.”You feel cautious but confident. You’re tired, exhausted but energized.”He urged Obama, who he endorsed early in the primary election rounds, to “stay on message.” He also discounted but did not rule out the possibility that, if offered, he would take a cabinet position in a prospective Obama administration.”I’ve said that is the highest speculation. There is very little I’d leave the (Senate) seat for. It’s not my intention.”