JANESVILLE - Max Perkins liked what he heard.
"That's a good idea - giving tax breaks to the companies that are staying, not the ones that are leaving," said the 61-year-old retiree from Janesville's General Motors truck factory.
Perkins, a 30-year GM veteran, was one of about 600 people who listened to Sen. Barack Obama deliver an economic policy statement Wednesday at the local GM plant as part of his presidential primary campaign in Wisconsin.
"I'm for Obama," Perkins said. "He's just trying to keep small and big plants in this country."
Perkins was among the throng that gave Obama four standing ovations.
The loudest cheers came when the Illinois Democrat said: "And I'll make sure that CEOs can't dump your pension with one hand while they collect a bonus with the other. That's an outrage, and it's time we had a president who knows it's an outrage."
Obama also brought the crowd to its feet when he said he would pay for his extensive and expensive package of economic proposals by ending the Iraq War.
"It's time to stop spending billions of dollars a week trying to put Iraq back together and start spending the money on putting America back together instead," Obama said.
"End the war, Barack. End it now." one man shouted.
Obama earned another standing O when he said:
"When I am president, I will not sign another trade agreement unless it has protections for the environment and protections for American workers. And I'll pass the Patriot Employer Act that I've been fighting for ever since I ran for the Senate - we will end the tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas, and we will give those breaks to companies who create good jobs with decent wages right here in America."
And the crowd rose and clapped when Obama said: "And I believe that if our government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to retool and make this transition (to a greener society), that this plant will be here for another 100 years."
Obama noted that his Janesville speech was a policy address, not a political rally like the one that rocked the 17,000-strong crowd the night before at the Kohl Center in Madison.
"Today, I want to take it down a notch," he said.
And, probably because the speech was at a plant owned by GM - a private, non-partisan corporation - there were no Obama signs, banners or balloons. But several Janesville-made sport-utility vehicles served as Obama's backdrop.
Some of the folks in the audience wore Obama buttons.
Dressed in a charcoal gray suit, off-white shirt and red tie, Obama flashed his 1,000-megawatt smile often. After the speech, he shook the hands of those closest in the crowd.
Obama sprinkled local references throughout his 40-minute speech.
"It was nearly a century ago that the first tractor rolled off the assembly line at this plant. I saw it downstairs when I came in," Obama said. "The achievement didn't just create a product to sell or profits for General Motors. It led to a shared prosperity enjoyed by all of Janesville.
"Homes and businesses began to sprout up along Milwaukee and Main streets. Jobs were plentiful, with wages that could raise a family and benefits you could count on," he said.
"Prosperity hasn't always come easily. The plant shut down for a period during the height of the Depression, and major shifts in production have been required to meet the changing times," Obama said. "Tractors became automobiles. Automobiles became artillery shells. SUVs are becoming hybrids as we speak, and the cost of transition has always been greatest for the workers and their families."
Obama wasn't perfect.
He mistakenly referred to John Dohner Jr., shop committee chairman for United Auto Workers Local 95, as Jim. And Obama had a tough time pronouncing Manitowoc.
At least one GM employee hoped she made a personal connection with the candidate.
Patricia Trail, a reliability engineer from Roscoe, Ill., said she asked Obama to include a requirement in his medical reform proposal that insurance companies treat colonoscopies like mammograms.
Insurance carriers should treat both preventive medical procedures the same way and pay for regular colonoscopies the same way they do for mammograms, she said.
"He asked me if I had been dealing with it," Trail said of her 30 or so seconds with the candidate.
Asked if Obama paid attention, Trail said: "I really think he did. I hope he remembers that."
"That's a good idea - giving tax breaks to the companies that are staying, not the ones that are leaving," said the 61-year-old retiree from Janesville's General Motors truck factory.
Perkins, a 30-year GM veteran, was one of about 600 people who listened to Sen. Barack Obama deliver an economic policy statement Wednesday at the local GM plant as part of his presidential primary campaign in Wisconsin.
"I'm for Obama," Perkins said. "He's just trying to keep small and big plants in this country."
Perkins was among the throng that gave Obama four standing ovations.
The loudest cheers came when the Illinois Democrat said: "And I'll make sure that CEOs can't dump your pension with one hand while they collect a bonus with the other. That's an outrage, and it's time we had a president who knows it's an outrage."
Obama also brought the crowd to its feet when he said he would pay for his extensive and expensive package of economic proposals by ending the Iraq War.
"It's time to stop spending billions of dollars a week trying to put Iraq back together and start spending the money on putting America back together instead," Obama said.
"End the war, Barack. End it now." one man shouted.
Obama earned another standing O when he said:
"When I am president, I will not sign another trade agreement unless it has protections for the environment and protections for American workers. And I'll pass the Patriot Employer Act that I've been fighting for ever since I ran for the Senate - we will end the tax breaks for companies who ship our jobs overseas, and we will give those breaks to companies who create good jobs with decent wages right here in America."
And the crowd rose and clapped when Obama said: "And I believe that if our government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to retool and make this transition (to a greener society), that this plant will be here for another 100 years."
Obama noted that his Janesville speech was a policy address, not a political rally like the one that rocked the 17,000-strong crowd the night before at the Kohl Center in Madison.
"Today, I want to take it down a notch," he said.
And, probably because the speech was at a plant owned by GM - a private, non-partisan corporation - there were no Obama signs, banners or balloons. But several Janesville-made sport-utility vehicles served as Obama's backdrop.
Some of the folks in the audience wore Obama buttons.
Dressed in a charcoal gray suit, off-white shirt and red tie, Obama flashed his 1,000-megawatt smile often. After the speech, he shook the hands of those closest in the crowd.
Obama sprinkled local references throughout his 40-minute speech.
"It was nearly a century ago that the first tractor rolled off the assembly line at this plant. I saw it downstairs when I came in," Obama said. "The achievement didn't just create a product to sell or profits for General Motors. It led to a shared prosperity enjoyed by all of Janesville.
"Homes and businesses began to sprout up along Milwaukee and Main streets. Jobs were plentiful, with wages that could raise a family and benefits you could count on," he said.
"Prosperity hasn't always come easily. The plant shut down for a period during the height of the Depression, and major shifts in production have been required to meet the changing times," Obama said. "Tractors became automobiles. Automobiles became artillery shells. SUVs are becoming hybrids as we speak, and the cost of transition has always been greatest for the workers and their families."
Obama wasn't perfect.
He mistakenly referred to John Dohner Jr., shop committee chairman for United Auto Workers Local 95, as Jim. And Obama had a tough time pronouncing Manitowoc.
At least one GM employee hoped she made a personal connection with the candidate.
Patricia Trail, a reliability engineer from Roscoe, Ill., said she asked Obama to include a requirement in his medical reform proposal that insurance companies treat colonoscopies like mammograms.
Insurance carriers should treat both preventive medical procedures the same way and pay for regular colonoscopies the same way they do for mammograms, she said.
"He asked me if I had been dealing with it," Trail said of her 30 or so seconds with the candidate.
Asked if Obama paid attention, Trail said: "I really think he did. I hope he remembers that."