BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- Mario Cuomo says when the economy is good and unemployment is low, people don't want to hear about America's problems. But they came out Wednesday to hear him talk about them.
Speaking at Miami University's Hamilton campus, the former governor of New York got a standing ovation after insisting his speech wouldn't be popular.
"People don't talk about these things -- and they don't like talking about them," he said.
Last year, he said, more Americans than ever filed bankruptcy, many because of health care costs. Despite the prosperity of the upper class, the standard of living for middle- and lower-class Americans has declined in the past decade, he said.
And the nation imports thousands of skilled workers because American universities aren't producing enough educated people to fill high-paying jobs, he said.
All of those problems could be solved if people demanded politicians find the money to pump into health care, and, as Mr. Cuomo put it: "education, education, education."
"It's not a matter of resources," he said. "It's a matter of choices."
Education, Mr. Cuomo said, made the difference in his own life. The son of Italian immigrants, he said he barely knew English when he started school. Yet he graduated from college with highest honors, earned a law degree, became governor of his state and was even a contender for the Democratic nomination for president.
"Somebody should run for president who believes what you do," an audience member told Mr. Cuomo during a question-and-answer period, drawing loud applause.
But Mr. Cuomo was cool to the idea.
He replied that President Clinton believes in many of the same ideas he does, "in his best and most relaxed moments."
Mr. Cuomo agreed that President Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was wrong. But he said, "Even if we want to punish him because he did bad things, we shouldn't punish ourselves by pulling him out of the presidency."
He suggested that Congress censure the president as quickly as possible -- and get on with the business of running the country. Mr. Cuomo said he and his son, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo, are throwing their support to Vice President Al Gore in the next election.
Mr. Cuomo's speech inaugurated the Harry T. Wilks lecture series.
