COLUMBUS, OHIO ? President Bush lashed out at Sen. John Kerry on Saturday for his stands on domestic programs ranging from retirement to health care, saying the Democrat is obstructing needed reforms that would give workers more control over their financial future.

“He’s decided to put his faith in the wisdom of the government,” Bush said of Kerry. “I will always put my faith in the wisdom of the American people.”

Campaigning in Orlando, Fla., Kerry described the president’s record of tax cuts as a boon to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

“Time and time again, he has made the same choice: to use the power of the presidency to give more and more to those with the most, more to the wealthiest individuals, more to the most well-connected,” Kerry said. “And the result? George Bush doesn’t have a record to run on. He has a record to run away from.”

Kerry said the president’s programs, specifically his tax cuts, had done little to create jobs, expand health care coverage to uninsured families, make college affordable or promote fair trade.

“George Bush has given more to those with the most at the expense of the middle-class working families who are struggling to get ahead and reach the American dream,” Kerry said. “For those people who are struggling, four more years of Bush choices is just four more years I don’t think they can really afford.”

Kerry touted his own ideas to expand tax deductions for college tuition, a tax credit for health insurance, a promise to make trade relationships fairer, while rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.

In Columbus, the president sought to turn Kerry’s own words against him by criticizing a recent speech in Detroit in which the Democrat said, “This president has created more excuses than jobs.” Kerry often criticizes the Bush administration for overseeing the first job-loss record since the Depression.

“Not once in his speech did he mention expanding ownership,” Bush said. “Not a word on how we help more Americans own their own homes, or stocks, or savings accounts. Instead, his agenda focuses on expanding the scope and power of the government.”