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Tragic day puts man on path to be Pinnacle owner
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More on Varejao
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Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
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Wedge challenges relievers
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Stallworth test showed marijuana
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Men's Basketball Scheduling update
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Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
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Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
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CIA Did Mislead Congress
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Teaching Transactional Law Skills in Law School: Is More Really Better?
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East basketball update
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Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Aimee asks-where is Lake Farm Park?
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LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
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DDI One of Best Places to Work
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Obama promises crackdown on lending
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Feb 24, 2008
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama promises that if he is elected president, he will take steps to create more jobs for Ohioans.
Obama, who took time for a brief interview with the Beacon Journal Saturday before heading to Cleveland for another campaign stop, said Ohio is suffering from a shift away from manufacturing jobs.
''I would never pretend I could bring all the jobs back,'' he said, sitting in his idling campaign bus, looking calm and — amazingly — not tired after a 50-minute speech before about 6,000 people at the John S. Knight Center.
Obama said he would seek an amendment to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and
make sure future trade agreements have stronger standards. He pledged to rebuild roads, bridges and broadband lines in rural communities.
''Those are all critical to keep us competitive,'' he said.
Obama said he would work to make higher education — including technical schools and community colleges — more affordable. He would push for an investment in 21st-century energy such as wind turbines. Much of this, he said, is being built by European countries.
''We should be in the forefront of that,'' he said. ''If we do all those things, there's no reason we can't develop the outstanding work force here in Ohio to provide good jobs for the future.''
Regarding the home-foreclosure problem, Obama said he would create a $10 billion prevention fund. He said this money would be used to help people work out their mortgages while remaining in their houses.
Long term, he said, he would crack down on misleading lending practices, not only by mortgage companies, but also by credit-card companies.
''The Bush administration has not believed in any regulation, and I think that's a profound mistake,'' Obama said.
He said he's preparing for his debate against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at Cleveland State University on Tuesday — their 20th face-off in the campaign — while continuing to take his message across Ohio. ''There aren't too many surprises left,'' he said of the debates. ''We tend to have the same discussions.''
However, he said he'll probably share a few Ohio stories he picked up while in Columbus at a round-table discussion on health care.
''Health care is an area where people are just frustrated,'' Obama said. ''Either because they don't have health care or because they have health care, but the costs are going up so rapidly.''
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached
at 330-996-3705 or
swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama promises that if he is elected president, he will take steps to create more jobs for Ohioans.
Get the full article here.

