Kerry's uses 'misery index' to hit Bush on economy

BOSTON, April 11 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Sunday tried to keep the focus on President George W. Bush's economic record of "middle class misery" even as violence in Iraq threatened to overshadow the campaign.

In a new study for release on Monday, Kerry said a combination of rising college and health care costs, together with sluggish incomes, have squeezed America's working families since Bush took office and eliminated any financial gain from the president's tax cuts.

The core of Kerry's economic argument has been job losses during Bush's tenure, but the report pointed to another problem -- middle class families struggling with "the rising cost of health care, college tuition and gasoline at the same time that wages and incomes are stagnating and personal bankruptcies are at record levels."

Between 2000 and 2003, according to the "Middle Class Misery Index," compiled with data from government and independent sources, wages dropped 0.2 percent while the cost of tuition at public colleges and universities increased a record 13 percent.

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