PRIMARY COVERAGE: Clintons call for change at Downtown rally

Democratic presidentialcandidate Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, President Bill Clinton,… Democratic presidentialcandidate Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, President Bill Clinton, encouraged Democrats to choose her over her opponent Sen. Barack Obama when they make the biggest “hiring decision” possible in today’s Pennsylvania primary.

The pair spent Monday morning before the primary election at a rally in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Market Square.

“Who would you hire for the toughest job in the world?” Mrs. Clinton asked the crowd that filled about two-thirds of Market Square yesterday. “If you are willing to go to the polls and you give me a chance to be hired, I will stand up.”

She said she was hoping to take a country that has been “poorly led for the past seven years,” and lead it back to the economic growth it saw in the 1990s – when her husband was president – despite the fact that some people are skeptical of such changes.

“What isn’t it they didn’t like, the peace or the prosperity?” she asked of her husband’s presidency. “And how do we get back to those days?”

Mrs. Clinton said she wants to revise the tax code so that people making $50 million annually are not paying lower rates than people making $50,000 annually.

She also said she hopes to create 5 million jobs by reinvesting in clean energy jobs over the next 10 years.

Mr. Clinton said the United States has no choice but to invest in clean technology. China, he said, is consuming more coal than the United States, Europe and Japan combined.

“If any country can beat the world to the moon, it ought to be able to beat them to clean coal,” he said.

His wife’s plans include retro-fitting college campuses so that they run on solar energy and other forms of clean energy.

These jobs, he said, could be done by high school drop-outs, and they couldn’t be outsourced because the buildings requiring the upgrades are located in the United States.

Hillary used the speech as an opportunity to clarify the differences between her plan and that of Obama’s. Obama “will create a new ‘Making Work Pay’ tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family,” according to his campaign website. It also says he will “invest $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels and fuel infrastructure.”

The Clintons also promoted Mrs. Clinton’s health care plan, which seeks to make Congress’ health care plan available to the average American.

Mr. Clinton said the American Nurses Association supports Hillary, and “they believe you can’t get control of the cost [of healthcare] until everyone’s covered.”

He said today’s insurance companies spend 30 cents per $1 on administrative paperwork.

“Is there a business in the city that could stay in business if it blew 30 percent of its revenue right off the top with administrative expenses?” he asked.

Medicare, in contrast, spends three cents per $1 on paperwork, he said. If every American had coverage the average taxpayer would actually save money, because he wouldn’t be paying hidden costs to cover those who aren’t insured.

Mrs. Clinton said she also has plans to invest money in medical and environmental research, but the research needs to be less restricted. The Bush administration’s regulations produced “stymied science,” she said.

“We can create million of jobs by investing in science,” she said. “But we can’t keep on [like Bush],” she said.

Mr. Clinton said millions of people are developing diabetes at younger ages than before, and his wife’s plans could help prevent diabetes and other diseases from becoming more common.

“Everybody under 25, an extraordinary number of you are going to live to be 100,” he said. “You don’t want to spend the last 25 years of your life with Alzheimer’s, the last 35 with Parkinson’s.”

Mrs. Clinton also drove home her plan to end the Iraq war within 60 days of entering office. She said removing forces from Iraq would show the Iraqis that they need to take more responsibility for their country.

“We must tell the Iraqis that they no longer have a blank check, that they must take responsibility,” she said.

Cathy Wiskemann, who attended the rally with her 3 year-old son, said she likes Clinton’s plans to exit Iraq.

“I don’t want my only son to be over there [when he’s old enough],” she said.

Patty Clunan, the wife of a disabled veteran who was also at the rally, said she supports Clinton’s plan to end the War in Iraq. But that wasn’t the only thing that drew her to the candidate.

Clunan said she supports Clinton’s plans to develop green technology and promote health care. She was impressed by the way the candidate composed herself.

“To have the kitchen sink thrown at her, she’s go to have a backbone of steel,” Clunan said.

“You know how they’re always talking about Barack being a rock star,” she said. “It was like she was a rock star that day. The atmosphere makes you high.”

Others weren’t so excited to see the Clintons come to town. Regina Casey, manager of Jenny Lee Bakery on Market Street called the candidate’s visit “very frustrating and inconsiderate.”

“How would it affect you, if you could not have customers come to your store?” she asked. “I had to walk down to the corner to give people birthday cakes, to leave my other employee alone.”