Bill Clinton for vice president?

Former president stumps for wife in city stop

By HEATHER GACH hgach@sungazette.com
After hearing former president Bill Clinton speak at Lycoming College on Saturday, Lloyd Burson, of Williamsport, had an idea.

“Make him the vice president. That would be a great, great, great thing to happen,” Burson said, saying Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has his vote for president.

Of course, the 12th Amendment prohibits that from happening.

Campaigning on behalf of his wife, Clinton addressed nearly 2,000 people at the college’s Lamade Gymnasium, according to Jerry Rashid, director of college relations.

His speech, “Solutions for America,” touched upon Sen. Clinton’s positions regarding health care, education and the federal No Child Left Behind Act, fuel and oil costs, technological advances, job creation, student loans, bringing the troops home from Iraq and veterans issues.

“He was great. Great. I’m a Vietnam vet, disabled,” Burson said. “He and Hillary stand for exactly what I like because I suffered under the problems with coming back from Vietnam.”

Clinton said his wife has pledged to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home. Upon their return, Clinton said his wife’s administration would provide adequate health-care coverage for every service member, including the National Guards and Reserves, and veterans.

Clinton said 200,000 veterans were homeless in 2006. His wife’s administration plans for provide subsidies and housing payments for veterans, as well as discounts on foreclosed properties.

Also regarding foreclosures, Clinton said under his wife’s administration, families would not be forced out of their homes, as 30 million would be delegated to states for mortgage payment assistance programs. First-time homeowner assistance, moratorium periods on foreclosures and locking of interest rates for families also would be priorities, he said.

Clinton described this election year as “amazing,” saying each candidate, in some way, is making history.

“The most important thing now, it’s not the history they make, but the future that the next president can make for the American people,” Clinton said.

Though never referring to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama by name, Clinton said he’s “somewhere between amused, disappointed and confused” by inferences made by “the media and political elite” that there’s a frontrunner in the Democratic primary.

“Gosh, there’s a contest going on ... that’s what an election’s about,” he said, encouraging Pennsylvanians to have their voices heard April 22. “If you need change that you can count on ... (Sen. Clinton) has the best record of a change maker.”

Clinton said there are “at least a dozen Americans” driving “demonstration cars” that get 100 miles to the gallon, “like hybrid cars on steroids.” If his wife is elected, the federal government will step up to fund the research to make these lithium car batteries and make enough that they are affordable for all and create a country that’s not dependent on foreign oil.

“Hillary’s position on this is really simple. She believes if we can beat the world to the moon, we can surely beat the world to a car battery,” Clinton said. “Get the politics out and get the science back in.”

State testing as required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Clinton said, has teachers “teaching to the test,” and initiatives under his wife’s administration would be instituted to relieve some of that pressure off of teachers.

On higher education, Clinton said a college degree is “worth a million” over a lifetime to the holder and to the community, and everyone should have access to obtaining a two-year or four-year college degree. Sen. Clinton, if elected, he said, would raise tuition tax credits, raise Pell Grants to keep up with inflation and crack down on private loan companies pushing interest rates too high.

Deb Muthler, a special education teacher at Jersey Shore Area Senior High School, said she was “impressed” with Clinton’s thoughts on education.

“I appreciated his answers on education since I am a teacher in the county,” Muthler said. “He gave us a lot of good reasons why we should vote for Hillary, and I’m heading that way.”

Effie Engelman of Montgomery also said Clinton hit on the topics close to home to her.

“He touched on the issues that concerned me,” Engelman said. “I was interested in the economy, education, what they’re going to do for the veterans that are coming home, what they’re going to do about ending the war, and about jobs.”

Diana Fitzgerald of Dushore said Clinton was “an eloquent speaker.”

“You can tell he has such feeling for people,” Fitzgerald said.

Burson’s wife, Elke, said she voted for the former president both times he was up for election, and his wife now also has her vote.

“We love Bill Clinton,” she said. “We think it’s time for a change and we also think the economy will be in better hands with her.”