The Brown & White

As Pennsylvanians head to polls Tuesday for the primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton wants voters to think about what type of president they want.

"I'm offering leadership you can count on," she said.

Clinton addressed a crowd of Lehigh Valley residents, many of whom were middle-aged women, Sunday at Liberty High School Memorial Gymnasium in Bethlehem.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell introduced Clinton, whose first discussion was about the U.S.'s lack of fiscal responsibility.

"Don't spend money we don't have," she said.

Clinton played to her audience of small town Americans by discussing the middle class and the tough job market.

"America created and gave life to the middle class," she said, "and it's the middle class that is under stress."

She said she wants to end tax breaks on exported jobs and to rewrite the tax code so it works for all citizens.

She said it is not fair that Wall Street analysts pay a lower percentage on their taxes than truck drivers from Bethlehem.

Clinton said investments would help the economy. She wants citizens to buy bonds, as they did during other wars, such as World War II.

Clinton, who has made a recent push to be environmentally friendly, proposed a Clean Renewable Energy bill. Not only would the bill aim for a greener countryside, but it would also provide an estimated five million new jobs, she said.

"The country that sent man to the moon is going to be the one that gets energy efficiency," she said.

Clinton said the U.S. cannot remain dependent on foreign oil. Instead, government officials need to take on the oil countries and drop prices.

Other countries think the U.S. will never change, and she said President George W. Bush continues to let them believe it.

"Nothing's going to change until we get the two oilmen out of the White House," Clinton said.

She also referenced the problem of 47 million uninsured citizens in the U.S., and Clinton, in her regular conversation about universal health care, said that number is unacceptable.

Her plan allows people to keep their present policy if they are happy with it, but it also allows low-income citizens to get the care they need.

She told a story about an upper-middle class man who couldn't get insurance to cover his son's surgery. She said she called the company and convinced them to give the man money. Clinton considers the situation ridiculous.

"It should not take a U.S. senator to get insurance people need," she said.

Taking the opportunity to criticize her opponent, Clinton said Sen. Barack Obama's proposed health care system covers 15 million fewer citizens than her plan.

Clinton touched a nerve when she brought up education in America. The eruption of cheers from the crowd when Clinton said she wanted to end No Child Left Behind seemed to take her by surprise.

"You don't improve by turning students into test takers," she said.

Clinton said college should be more affordable.

"To me, this is not about the next election," she said. "This is about the next generation."

She said she wants to improve financial aid by getting rid of FAFSA, the Free Application For Student Aid program, which takes hours to complete and grants few families relief. She also said she wants to take on student loan companies and force them to bring the borrowing rate back down to 2 percent.

She suggested a public service program for students who came out of college with large amounts of debt.

Amid screamed "amens" and stamping feet, Clinton brought up the Iraq War. She said the U.S. gave Iraq the sacred gift of freedom, "and it is up to them to decide how to use that freedom."

She said the U.S. not only needs a plan for withdrawal, but it needs to find common ground again with the whole world.

Clinton said she is the commander-in-chief and diplomat who can do it.

"Force should be used as a last resort," she said, "not a first one."

Although Clinton was presenting the issues, murmurs from the crowd focused more on the excitement surrounding Tuesday's primary than her candidacy.

The long line of people waiting for Clinton was filled with debate over the two democratic presidential nominees.

"It's really exhilarating, isn't it," one breathless supporter said as she waited.