Bill Clinton rouses UF audience - Saturday, March 01, 2008 | Courier Electronic Edition

Local News

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Bill Clinton rouses UF audience

By JOHN GRABER

STAFF WRITER

Hillary Clinton should be the next president because she would be the best change-maker, executive officer and commander in chief, her husband and former president Bill Clinton said Friday to a cheering crowd of about 1,200 in the University of Findlay's Croy Gymnasium.

He drove that point home by pledging her support in finding a solution to Findlay's flooding problems.

“If you elect Hillary president, you won't have to worry about the federal government saying they can't help you with flood mitigation, it'll be five or 10 years, they'll get around to it when they can,” he said. “She will be here with you, a partner by your side.”

Clinton said it is fitting that the Democratic primary race between Hillary Clinton, a New York senator, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, whom he never mentioned by name, is coming down to Texas and Ohio. Clinton said his wife's first job as a political activist was registering Hispanic voters in southern Texas, and Ohio delivered the Democratic nomination and the presidency for him.

“I did not know the outcome of the election in November of 1992 until our family was gathered in the governor's residence in Arkansas, we were watching television on that night and all of a sudden there was a map of the United States and an outline of Ohio started blinking. They said, 'Gov. Clinton has carried Ohio, he's been elected president.'”

He also noted that no Republican has ever been elected president without carrying Ohio.

“If you (Ohioans) vote for Hillary on Tuesday, and you vote for her in November, she will be the next president of the United States,” he said.

Clinton's visit to Findlay was one of five scheduled Ohio stops for him on Friday. He and daughter Chelsea Clinton also have campaigned in Bowling Green, Tiffin and Dayton during the week.

Change

Clinton described how his wife had been “making change in other people's lives” since her days as a law school student and has advocated for health care and women's rights throughout the world.

“Hillary says, 'You should vote for me because I've spent a lifetime driven by my religious convictions and my personal upbringing in the belief that my job was to see that other people have the same chances in life I have had. I think you need a change-maker for other people in the White House. What matters is whether the president can change other people's lives. I've got the best record of doing that and the best ideas to do it in the future.'”

Clinton said Hillary has championed child abuse laws and legislation accommodating special needs children in schools.

“When I became president, I asked Hillary to work on health care reform,” he said. “When we didn't succeed in insuring everybody, she got up off the mat, as she always does, and helped to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program, which now provides health care to more than six million children in America. It was the biggest expansion of health care since Medicare and Medicaid. She was changing other people's lives.”

And that effort reaches out to both sides of the aisle, he said.

“She and Sen. John McCain, who is apparently going to be the Republican nominee ... took reluctant Republicans all over the world together, to show them how the earth is literally, physically changing because of global warming,” he said.

“They went to the northern-most American settlement, Barrow, Alaska. The Eskimos, your fellow Americans, told them their way of life is coming to an end. Guess what, we now have a bipartisan majority in the Senate to do something about this problem in a way that will grow the American economy.”

Executive officer

“The president alone is personally responsible for changing the good intentions of a campaign into real changes in your life,” Clinton said.

America has been operating far too long under the trickle down theory of economics, which just isn't working for many people, he said.

“What's the basic problem in America?” he asked. “People are broke at the end of every month. They feel their jobs are insecure and they're worried about the housing crisis, whether people are going to be thrown out of their homes.”

Hillary would reverse that by taking $55 billion in subsidies and tax breaks given to the energy industries and investing it in clean renewable forms of energy, he said.

“If you look around the world, the only rich countries that are growing jobs and increasing incomes are those that have gone for energy independence. It will create jobs, not only for college graduates but also for high school graduates and high school dropouts because you can train anybody to be a green collar worker.”

Clinton predicted that effort would create five million new jobs.

Clinton said his wife also would install labor and environmental standards in all of America's trade agreements in order to put American workers back on equal footing with those around the world. He said she would work to make college accessible to more students and less financially burdensome, which drew applause from the university crowd.

Hillary also would offer universal health care that would give access to health insurance similar to what is available to Congress and other federal employees, he said.

“If it's good enough for my family, it's good enough for your family, that's her position,” he said.

Universal health care would eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in administrative costs and money spent by insurance companies looking for ways to deny access to people, he said.

Many business leaders support the plan “because they know they're going to go broke if health care costs keep doubling every seven years,” he said.

She also would allow President Bush's upper level income tax breaks for the wealthy to expire, he said.

“Those rates would revert to where they were when I was president, when we had more millionaires than ever before,” he said.

Commander in Chief

“Hillary believes, among other things, if we're going to restore our standing in the world, and restore diplomacy and cooperation, we have to bring our troops home from the Iraq conflict,” Clinton said.

He said her plan includes leaving a small contingent of special forces in the northern part of Iraq to ensure al Qaeda does not re-establish a foothold there.

“But that's not all we have to do,” he said.

Hillary would repair an American image that has been tarnished around the world, he said.

“The world is mad at us for a lot of reasons,” he said. “We have basically said to the world for the last seven years, it's our way or the highway.”

Clinton said his wife would bring democracy back into the Oval Office.

“If you vote for Hillary, she will send a very different message to the world,” he said. “She will say, 'America is back. We are back.'

“We are going to cooperate with you whenever we can and act alone only when we have to. We are going to have diplomacy with friend and foe alike whenever we can and use military force only when we have to. We are back in the cooperation business.”

Contact staff writer John Graber at: (419) 427-8417 johngraber@thecourier.com

Comment on This Story

NOTE: Comment moderation has been enabled. If you see a comment that violates our Electronic User Agreement, please e-mail rebeccaconklin@thecourier.com. Thank you. If you are having problems viewing this Web page, please contact our Internet Department to help us diagnose and correct the problem. We may contact you for more information. Thanks in advance.

Name:

E-mail:

Your e-mail address will not be displayed on this website or shared with anyone. It is used by our online editor for contacting purposes.

Confirm E-mail:

Subject:

Comments:

Verification:

Confirmation Code:

Comments are moderated by The Courier according to its Electronic User Agreement within one business day. Comments that slander others or include language that violates the agreement will be rejected. All comments that impart opinion and information are welcome.

SPECIAL SECTIONS

WINTER BRIDAL TAB: Dove releases, prenuptial agreements, bridesmaid advice, budget tips and more to plan your big day.

Brought to you by

STAY IN TOUCH

The Courier on Facebook

VIRTUAL VILLAGE

OILERS: Follow University of Findlay basketball with Brian Lester.

VIEW BLOG

DROP A LINE: Whether you're always here or just passing through, visit and sign our online Guest Book on the Far Flung blog.

SIGN GUEST BOOK

Explore Virtual Village

PHOTO GALLERY

IMAGE BLOG: Go behind the scenes with Courier photographer Randy Roberts.

Visit Blog

You can purchase photographs from The Courier through our easy-to-use online system. Get prints, mousepads, T-shirts and more!

LOCAL NEWS

LATEST COMMENTS Last 10 comments submitted by our readers...

Barbara Hughes wrote in article "Findlay man found guilty of six rapes":

Child Rape/Sexual Molestation

Hang him that's the best way taxpapers won't have to support him. How did he have access to this child the paper didn't say. T...

3/11/2010 11:45:50 PM

Bob wrote in article "Union, utility at odds over terminations":

Protest

I will be paying my bill to Hancock Wood in pennies until this problem is fixed.

3/11/2010 11:41:41 PM

Lexie wrote in article "Union, utility at odds over terminations":

My Union Brother and Sisters

Just want to say that I am a strong and proud union member of IBEW Local 245. Although I do not work for Hancock-Wood, I want to...

3/11/2010 11:31:13 PM

bob the builder wrote in article "Findlay man found guilty of six rapes":

baby raper

DEATH to all that commit sexual crimes against children. dont waste my tax money on their worthless lives. either death or sente...

3/11/2010 11:20:05 PM

ava wrote in article "Findlay man found guilty of six rapes":

comments

pray and hope that time will heal this young little girl..
it is a horrific that any child has to go through this.

keep your...

3/11/2010 11:06:08 PM

Maurice wrote in article "Union, utility at odds over terminations":

Job

So my electric bill has gone up too. But so has everything else. Word I hear is employees were laid off not terminated and the...

3/11/2010 10:06:37 PM

Concerned wrote in article "Indictment accuses city man of hacking school computer":

Questioining What Happenned Here

Knowing Andrew, there had to be a contract with the school. If he provided computer technician service to the school, wouldn't t...

3/11/2010 9:54:55 PM

referee wrote in article "Union, utility at odds over terminations":

to reality

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but maybe when you have no idea what youre talking about its best to keep it to yours...

3/11/2010 9:42:59 PM

adam wrote in article "Findlay man found guilty of six rapes":

sex offeners

I cant belive we as taxpayers have to pay for their free housing and meals! There is no rehab for these animals. People never ch...

3/11/2010 8:17:56 PM

bws wrote in article "Findlay man found guilty of six rapes":

Conviction of rapist

I certainly dont envy the job of a defense attorney! Sometimes they have the unenviable task of defending someone that they, th...

3/11/2010 6:26:36 PM

U.S. Headlines

World News

Ohio News

News Briefs Findlay woman injured in Main Street accident
A Findlay woman was taken to Blanchard Valley Hospital on Thursday night after she drove a vehicle into a parked car on South Main Street, according to city police.

Lisa Wolsfeld-Anderson, 39, was traveling northbound on South Main Street in a 2004 Nissan Murano when the vehicle struck the left rear bumper of a 2001 Honda Civic parked in the 1200 block of South Main about 8:15 p.m., police said.

The impact caused the parked car to travel about 25 feet into the yard of a nearby residence.

Wolsfeld-Anderson was taken to the hospital by MedCorp for treatment of minor injuries. Her car was "totaled" and the Honda sustained heavy damage, police said.

Both vehicles were towed from the scene. Wolsfeld-Anderson was cited for making a lane change without due regard.

Join Courier editor for coffee Saturday
Courier Editor Peter Mattiace will be available for "Coffee with the Editor" from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at Coffee Amici, 328 S. Main St., Findlay.

Planners favor zoning change
The Findlay Planning Commission voted Thursday to recommend that City Council change the zoning of a University of Findlay property on Defiance Avenue.

The university is seeking to change the zoning of 312 Defiance Ave. from B-Residential to University District.

City Council will review the request and make the final decision.

Library hosting book discussions
The Findlay-Hancock County Public Library, in conjunction with the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation's 2010 Community Read program, is offering book discussions this month.

This year's book selection is "Teach with Your Heart" by Erin Gruwell. Book discussions will be held at 1 p.m. Monday and 5:30 p.m. March 31.

A limited number of copies of "Teach with Your Heart" are available at the reference desk for book discussions.

All book discussion events are free and open to the public.

Registration is required by calling 419-422-1712 or visiting www.findlaylibrary.org.

Author to speak Saturday at library
Local author Larry Kreps will speak at the Findlay-Hancock County Public Library at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Kreps will talk about his book, "Cancer is a Four Letter Word," with book signings to follow.

No registration is required.

Screenwriter speaking at ONU
ADA -- Bob Peterson, an award-winning director and screenwriter for Pixar, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday in the Ohio Northern University Sports Center Gym.

The event is free and open to the public.

Peterson received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern in 1983 and has been a key player at Pixar Animation Studios since 1994.

His first assignment was that of layout artist and animator on "Toy Story." He later served as story artist on "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2," story supervisor on "Monsters Inc.," and one of the screenwriters for the Academy Award-winning feature "Finding Nemo."

The movie "Up," which he co-wrote and directed, recently collected two Oscars including "Best Animated Feature."

Riverdale plans school screening
MOUNT BLANCHARD -- Riverdale School District will hold its kindergarten screening on March 26, 29 and 30.

Screening will take place at the Riverdale Elementary School in the kindergarten classrooms.

Parents or guardians who have children who will be 5 years old on or before Aug. 1 are being asked to call the elementary office at 419-694-2211 and register the child by today.

Once registered, parents or guardians will receive an information packet with a self-addressed envelope. Papers should be filled out and returned to the elementary office by March 19.

A copy of the child's birth certificate, shot records, Social Security number, proof of residency and custody papers, if applicable, should be provided.

Parents or guardians who reside in the Riverdale School District need to register their child, even if considering open enrollment to another district.

Vanlue offering open enrollment
VANLUE -- Vanlue School District is accepting open enrollment applications for the 2010-11 school year, and scheduling kindergarten screening.

Applications for open enrollment can be found on the school Web site at http://vanlueschool.org.

Students from any school district in Ohio may apply and enroll in Vanlue School District, tuition-free. Students will be admitted on a full-time basis only.

Students registering for the kindergarten screening, to be held April 13, must be 5 years old on or before Aug. 1. Registrations must be submitted to the main office by Monday.

A residential parent or guardian must accompany the child to the registration. Original birth certificate, Social Security card, current shot record and any custody papers must be presented at the screening.

Fostoria board meeting changed
FOSTORIA -- Fostoria school board will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the community room at Fostoria Middle School.

The meeting was changed from Monday.

The Courier Electronic Edition

Local News

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Brought to you by