Remarks in Racine, West Virginia

Hello West Virginia! It's great to be here in Racine - where coal was born and where four-wheeling was perfected. Thank you for what you do; your work is important to our important to our country. Today, America celebrates Labor Day, and we celebrate what you do, just like we've done for more than a hundred years. As Harry Truman once said, "Whenever labor does well ... the whole country does well." And we're here today to talk about how our country's doing.

Over the last few years, I've thought a lot about why America is heading in the wrong direction. Lost jobs, health care costs through the roof, the surplus gone, our alliances shredded, and our influence challenged. And then the other day, we were driving along the road in our campaign bus, and I saw a sign with a lone "W" leaning up against a post. At first, I was a little confused. But then, it all made sense.

As the president likes to say, there's nothing complicated about it. It does all come down to one letter -- W. George W. Bush. What do you think that W stands for? That W stands for wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction for America. And this election all comes down to one decision: Do we want four more years of wrong choices, or do we want to move America in a new direction?

The choice in this election couldn't be more clear. Do we want four more years of lost jobs and falling wages ... four more years of rising health care costs ... four more years of raiding Social Security to give tax cuts to the wealthy ... four more years of schools being shortchanged, leaving millions of children behind ... four more years of shipping jobs overseas and replacing them with jobs that pay you less ...four more years of a go-it-alone foreign policy. If you do, then you should vote for George W. Bush.

But if you want health care for all Americans. If you want schools that work. If you want jobs that pay you more money. If you want Social Security that's there for the future. Then we need to move America in a new direction and that's the choice in this election.

Of all George Bush's wrong choices, the most catastrophic one is the mess in Iraq. It's not that I would have done one thing differently in Iraq, I would have done everything differently. It was wrong to rush to war without a plan to win the peace. It was wrong not to build a strong international coalition of our allies. And it was wrong to put our young men and women into harm's way without the equipment and body armor protect themselves and get the job done.

It was wrong for America to go it alone. And now every American is paying the price. Almost all the casualties are the sons and daughters of America. And nearly 90 percent of the cost is coming out of your pocket. The price-tag so far: $200 billion and rising every day. That's $200 billion we're not investing in health care and education That's $200 billion we're not investing to make sure no child is left behind. That's $200 billion we're not investing in new and better jobs.

That's $200 billion we're not investing in homeland security, to protect our airports, our subways, our bridges and tunnels. That's W and that's wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction. In fact, there's nothing right about it.

At that convention in New York last week, the Bush Administration actually said that outsourcing jobs is good for this nation. That shouldn't be a surprise because that's what they've done for four years, and that's what they want to do for four more years. That's W and that's Wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction. It's time for a president who will lead America in a new direction.

We're going to set a new direction � we're going to close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas, and we're going to reward companies that believe that American workers do the best job in the world.

At that convention in New York last week, George Bush actually promised the American people that after four years of failure, he now had a plan to get health care costs under control. Well, if you weren't suspicious of a plan announced just two months before an election, you got a quick dose of reality the next day. George Bush socked seniors with a 17 percent increase in Medicare. What's right about that? That's the biggest increase in Medicare premiums in the history of the program. Raising Medicare costs -- that's W and that's wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction.

It's time for a president who will lead America in a new direction.

We're going to set a new direction for America. We're going to get health care costs under control. And America will stop being the only advanced nation in the world which fails to understand that health care is not a privilege for the wealthy, the connected, and the elected, it is a right for all Americans.

At that convention in New York last week, George Bush said that he actually had a new idea. And you know what it was? The bad, old idea of privatizing social security -- and cutting your benefits. That's W and that's wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction. It's time for a president who will lead America in a new direction.

As President, I will not privatize Social Security. I will not cut benefits. I will not raise the retirement age. Because when you've worked for a lifetime, America owes you what you've earned.

At that convention in New York last week, after four years of catering to the big oil companies and the Saudis, George Bush suddenly said that he wanted America to be energy independent.

But he's the one who invited energy company executives to secret meetings in the White House and let them write our energy policies. In 2000, he came right here to West Virginia, and promised $2 billion for clean coal technology. But you know what? He broke that promise, too. There's an old saying -- fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Well, we're not going to be fooled twice.

That energy policy -- that's W and that's wrong. Wrong choices, wrong direction. It's time for a president who will lead America in a new direction.

We're going to set a new direction for America. We're going to invest in new technologies, like clean coal, and tough health and safety standards to protect miners. We'll invest in the vehicles of the future, so that no young American will ever be held hostage to our dependence on oil from the Middle East. I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation, not the Saudi Royal Family.

On every issue, from Iraq to health care, from jobs to education, W stands for wrong. Wrong choices. Wrong direction. It's time for a president who will lead America in a new direction.

This is Labor Day � a day specifically set aside to honor work in America. So I'm want to say something else about jobs -- because there's no place where George W Bush is more wrong than on jobs.

In the last three years, West Virginia lost 11,000 manufacturing jobs. But just today, a report came out that shows we've replaced those good jobs with low wage jobs � ones that pay an average of $9,000 less. A lot of them are part-time or temporary and don't provide any health care or benefits. That is wrong. That's George W. Bush and that's why we need a new direction for America.

But if you think it's tough to get by on $9,000 less, you haven't heard the half of it. Health care costs are up, tuition is up, child care costs are up, gas prices are up, and family income has fallen. So people are working two jobs, three jobs, working nights and weekends, just to make ends meet.

Four years ago, George W. Bush told us he wanted to create an economy where there was "high-paying, high-quality work" for everyone. He now says prosperity has returned and we've turned the corner. Well, that's just plain wrong. Most Americans I've met feel like they've been put in a corner. Prosperity hasn't returned. We've lost jobs. Wages are down. Benefits are down. And George Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression to actually lose jobs. That's George W. Bush. Wrong choices, wrong direction. It's time for a president who will America in a new direction.

Amazingly, his own Labor Secretary says that what's happening to America is "something to celebrate." What are they celebrating? 1.6 million lost jobs? Well, I don't know about you, but the America I believe in doesn't celebrate when people aren't earning enough to pay their bills...when they don't have any health care or benefits...when they're working so hard that they can't even have dinner with their families, or tuck their kids into bed at night. This isn't that complicated. You don't celebrate when you lose good jobs. You celebrate when you create them.

It's time to set a new direction for America's economy. Under my economic plan, when you put in a good day's work, you'll get a good day's pay. Under my plan, we'll create jobs that don't just let you survive, but let you get ahead. And we're going to restore the American dream where hard work and playing by the rules gets rewarded.

John Edwards and I are going to bring those jobs back to America. We'll fight for overtime protections, cut energy costs, and make health care affordable for American families and American employers. And we'll cut the deficit in half in four years by making government live by the rule that every family has to follow: pay as you go � you don't spend what you don't have.

So this election comes down to a fundamental choice: if you believe that this country is heading in the right direction, you should support George Bush. But if you believe a vote for W is a vote for wrong choices and the wrong direction, then join with us. If you believe we need good jobs, health care for all, energy independence, and a smarter plan for Iraq, then stand with us to move America in a new direction.

Together, we can build an America that's stronger at home and respected in the world.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.