By VICKI URBANIK

For the second time in less than three weeks, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made a campaign stop in Porter County, calling for an investigation on soaring gas prices, pledging to reinvigorate the middle class, and praising labor as the “backbone of America.”

Clinton spoke before a overflow crowd at the United Steelworkers Local 6787’s Duneland Falls Banquet Center on Ind. 149 in Portage. The crowd, estimated at more than 1,100, included a large union contingent.

Clinton’s visit began on a somber note, as Local 6787 President Paul Gipson announced the death of Russell Payne, a 60-year-old steelworker who was pinned between two girders at the Burns Harbor facility of Mittal Steel USA earlier in the morning. Gipson led the audience in a prayer, before he introduced and formally endorsed Clinton.

Saying that he’s tired of the “Gucce-wearing, latte-drinking, self-centered” type, Gipson said he believes the next president of the United States needs to have “testicular fortitude” and declared that that person is Clinton -- a comment that prompted hoots of roaring approval from the audience.

But the crowd applauded even louder when Clinton opened her speech by thanking Gipson for his endorsement. “I do think I have fortitude,” she smiled. “Women can have it as well as men.”

At one point, Clinton commented on the energy in the room and said she didn’t have to even try to get the crowd riled up. Still, she seemed to do just that with comments -- particularly those critical of the Bush administration and those praising labor -- that brought the crowd to their feet multiple times.

As she did when she visited Washington Township Elementary School earlier in April, Clinton talked at length about strengthening the economy by reinvigorating the middle class. Declaring that President Bush “has been a terrific president for rich people,” she called for universal health care, an increase in the minimum wage, and a fix to the North American Free Trade Agreement that ensures enforcement of labor, health and environmental protections.

She also said she wants to reinvigorate American’s labor unions, pledging to appoint someone who is pro-labor as Secretary of Labor, appointing “fair-minded” people to the National Labor Relations Board, and reversing a few executive orders that have benefited management over labor.

Clinton pledged to “take a scalpel” to the country’s tax code, by eliminating “every single tax benefit” to companies that export jobs overseas and by providing “way overdue” tax cuts to the middle class. At the same time, she said she would roll back the tax cuts on those who earn more than $250,000, returning the high earners to the same tax rate they paid in the 1990s.

She called for an investigation into soaring gas prices, noting how she was told earlier in South Bend that gas went up 20 cents overnight. “You can’t convince me this has anything to do with supply and demand,” she said to a standing ovation.

Clinton also called for investing in new sources of clean energy, including solar and wind, by taking tax subsidies away from oil companies and investing in technologies. She also spoke of her support for a federal gas tax holiday. Unlike presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, she said she supports the tax holiday but only if the country pays back the national highway trust fund. She said she would accomplish this by imposing an excess profits tax on oil companies. “I think it’s time we go after the oil companies,” she declared.

Then, to one of the loudest standing ovations of her speech, she said she won’t be able to accomplish everything she wants to on energy “until the two oil men leave the White House.”

Clinton spoke for more than 60 minutes, including a question and answer segment with the audience. One man asked Clinton’s stand on drilling in Alaska; she reiterated her opposition to proposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying that the amount of oil and time lapse in getting it makes ANWR drilling an unwise investment. But rather than “just chasing oil all over the place,” Clinton said she prefers long-term solutions that including putting more fuel efficient cars on the road, enhanced investment in alternative fuels, and more research funding for the auto industry.

She challenged the audience to use their innovation to try to come up with sources of new energy. “There’s no problem our county can’t solve if we starting acting like Americans,” she said.

She got another standing ovation after a questioner asked her about the Iraq war and she called for a comprehensive plan that would allow her to begin withdrawing troops within 60 days of taking office. Addressing Iraq war veterans, she said “You’ve done everything we’ve asked you to do ... The politicians and the diplomats have failed.”

Clinton said she can’t predict what would happened if U.S .troops do pull out, but said she knows that the U.S. military is stretched thin, that Iraq leaders won’t start making the tough decisions on their own if the U.S. continues to give Iraq a “blank check,” and that the U.S. isn’t paying enough attention to other problems in the world. “I want to end the war in Iraq and win the war in Afghanistan,” she said.

She also called for more attention to veterans, saying she would fully fund the Veterans Administration, enlist volunteers if necessary to get through the backlog of veteran disability claims. She also spoke in support of a “Helmets to Hard Hats” job-training program for people returning to the workforce after military service.

Clinton touched on Medicare and health care as well, by touting her plan that would allow people to buy into health coverage similar to what’s provided for members of Congress and federal employees.

She ended her talk by asking her audience members to make sure to go to the polls on Tuesday and to help get a huge voter turnout in Indiana. She pledged that if elected, she will wake up every day “and I’ll work my heart out for you.”

Posted 5/1/2008