Presidential Election 2000
As generations pass, and times change, the
people of the United States change as
well. What may have been a major issue
in the 1980 election might not even
concern voters in 2000. Economic issues
are continually changing with the times.
Each election develops its own
"personality." Despite agreeing on some
issues, the four major [now just two]
candidates in the upcoming 2000
presidential election hold different opinions
on three major economic issues:
tax reform, health care, and free
trade/immigration. One of the most important
issues of the 2000 presidential
election is tax reform. This topic, possibly
more than any other issue in the
election, reflects the greatest disparity among
candidates of the same party.
Among the Democrats, Bill Bradley and Al Gore have
contrasting ideas
concerning tax reform. Perhaps the most educated candidate on
this issue,
Bradley is a former member of the Senate Finance Committee and one
of the
major contributors to the 1986 overhaul of the tax code. Bradley’s
position,
made known in numerous debates, is that he is strongly against large
tax
cuts. The former senator believes that while the economy is doing well,
the
government should utilize tax revenues to improve schools, protect
social
security, and pass a national healthcare program instead of
concentrating on tax
reduction. Bradley recently told New York Times writer
James Dao that he would
veto the recently approved 792 billion dollar tax cut
in "a nanosecond". The
only specific tax cuts Bradley has proposed are tax
breaks for health insurance
payments. Concerning the budget surplus, Bradley
seeks to direct most of the
money to reducing child poverty as well as making
health care more affordable
for low-income families.1 Vice President Gore has
established a position on tax
reform different from that of Senator Bradley.
The two candidates do share
similar beliefs regarding the 792 billion dollar
tax cut that Gore refers to as
a "risky tax scheme." Gore has stated that, if
elected president, he would
implement a 200 to 300 billion dollar tax cut
over the next 10 years. Gore seeks
to allocate this money to reach specific
goals such as expanded tax incentives,
and education and retirement savings
programs. Gore refers to his cut as"relatively modest," and claims his figures
are more realistic than those of
Republican George W. Bush. Gore however,
claims that he would not hesitate to
implement larger cuts in a economic
slowdown but rules out tax increases in good
economic times.2 Republican
candidate George W. Bush presents a position on tax
reform clearly different
than that of either of the two democratic candidates.
Much like that of
the "typical Republican," Bush is calling for large tax
cuts if he is elected
to office. As Bush has often stated, "It’s the
people’s money, not the
governments." He has called for a 1.3 trillion
dollar tax cut over the next
ten years, a figure close to 4 times that of Vice
President Gore. The
centerpiece of Bush’s tax cut is a gradual reduction in
marginal tax rates,
meaning everyone will be affected by his proposals. On this
issue, Bush
states, "if you’re going to have a tax cut, everyone ought to
have a tax
cut."3 Offering a tax reform perspective somewhat different than
that of
Gore, Bradley and Bush, Republican candidate John McCain wants to
implement a
"flat tax," a reform that would replace the current progressive
marginal
rates with a single ‘flat’ tax. McCain claims that, in this way,
the
government will not be promising tax cuts from surpluses the economy
might
not produce in the future. In sum, McCain believes taxes should be
flatter,
lower, and more simple. He believes that a vast majority of
Americans pay too
much of their income on taxes. McCain believes his tax
"pitch" is modest
enough in size that it leaves funds left over from surplus
tax revenues to deal
with other needs of the economy. He claims this
"balanced approach" is the
key to tax reform in the 21st century.4 Another
pivotal issue in the upcoming
election is health care. Bill Bradley’s health
care plan calls for the
replacement of Medicaid with 150 dollar vouchers per
month. However, Bradley
still sees problems with insufficient funding for
AIDS/HIV patients. In addition
to this change, Bradley feels strongly about
not punishing the disabled for
working. Under the current system, once
disabled people begin working, they lose
their federal health benefits.
Bradley wants to make sure that, under his new
plan, disabled people can work
and still receive their needed health care.5
Unlike his fellow Democratic
candidate, Vice President Gore believes in keeping
Medicaid as our
country’s largest health care provider. Gore claims that by
changing the
current Medicaid system, we would be removing some of the key
protective
features of the system. Firstly, AIDS/HIV patients, as well as
senior
citizens, are provided with the health care they otherwise could not
receive
from private insurers. Secondly, Gore’s Medicaid plan has no
deductible, and
would eliminate cost-sharing and premiums for those living on
low incomes. When
questioned about Bradley’s idea of 150 dollar vouchers,
Gore responded,
"That’s not a plan, that’s a magic wand. It doesn’t work
that way
because the problem that people with AIDS and other diseases have in
the private
health insurance market is that the insurance companies don’t
want to take
them. They want to get rid of them. You give them $150-a-month
voucher, they
can’t buy it."6 Governor Bush, like his opponent Al Gore, wants
to keep
Medicare, but make it more flexible. Over the past decade or so,
large sums of
money won by the government from the tobacco companies in law
suit settlements.
Bush’s primary idea for health care in the 21st century
is to use the money
obtained from these settlements to give to those families
who do not qualify for
Medicare and those families whose income is 200%
under than the poverty level.
Bush’s other ideas for reforming health
care include bringing down health care
costs, reforming tax laws, limiting
frivolous malpractice lawsuits, and allowing
medical savings accounts.7 Like
some of the other candidates, Senator McCain
wants to use some of the budget
surplus to fund medical insurance for the 11
million uninsured children in
America. With the 10% surplus the US is
experiencing at present, many of the
candidates wish to put it into education.
However, McCain feels strongly
about directing the surplus toward the uninsured
children of America. When
asked about the large population of uninsured
children, McCain responded,
"We’ve got to expand the children’s health
insurance program. And I’ll tell
you what: I have the guts to take the money
where it shouldn’t be spent in
Washington, and put it where it should be
spent, including 10% of the
surplus."8 Another crucial issue in the upcoming
election is free trade and
immigration, a topic that seems to reveal only
minimal differences among the
four candidates. Bill Bradley, the most liberal
candidate on this topic,
strongly supports allowing immigrants to remain in the
United States
regardless of where they are from and is a strong supporter of
organizations
such as the WTO and NAFTA. In 1986, a law was passed that granted
amnesty to
those who were here before 1982. Unfortunately, many people here
before 1982
did not apply for this program. Bradley believes that there should
be "late"
amnesty for those individuals who did not apply because they are,
in many
respects, the backbone of the American workforce. Senator Bradley
also
believes that the United States has and must continue to rely on the WTO
for
much of our trade agreements with foreign companies. When questioned
about
trade, Bradley simply states, "I think the answer to a lot of our
economic
problems is more trade, more fairly shared worldwide."9 Al Gore has
views
similar to that of fellow Democrat Bill Bradley. Like Bradley, Gore is
a strong
supporter of immigration and trade organizations such as the WTO and
NAFTA.
However, unlike Bradley, Gore believes the United States to
address the
immigration situation in communist Cuba differently from
non-communist
countries. Gore also looks at immigration as an opportunity to
solve our
country’s labor shortage. A strong supporter of free and fair
trade, Gore has
been a national leader in opening markets around the world
while at the same
time protecting environmental and labor rights.10 Texas
Governor George W. Bush
has also shown his support for the WTO, NAFTA and
free trade. Bush’s plans for
trade in the new millennium, however, are
somewhat different. The Governor wants
to eliminate trade barriers and
tariffs everywhere so the whole world can trade
in complete freedom. Bush
also supports of revising export controls to tighten
control over military
technology and ease restrictions on technology available
commercially. Bush
has views more conservative than his two democratic opponents
on immigration.
Governor Bush supports border enforcement programs such as
Operation Hold
the Line, programs that concentrate on border patrol officers and
resources
at known boarder-crossing points. Bush also favors"compassionately" turning away
Mexicans at the border instead of arresting
aliens once in the country.11
Similar to that of his three opponents, John
McCain has established views
that support NAFTA, the WTO and free trade. McCain
has always been a strong
supporter of maintaining "open" borders with Mexico
and recognizes Mexico as
one of our leading trade partners. However, McCain
emphasizes that we as
country cannot become lackadaisical in our efforts to
control our trade with
Mexico. He believes it is a "balancing act," allowing
as much free trade as
possible, while at the same time preventing illegal drugs
from entering the
United States. In addition to supporting free trade, McCain
also intends to
provide immigrants with more help once here in the states. Among
the
principles McCain supports are: increasing eligibility of legal
immigrants
for certain social programs, increasing the immigration quota for
computer
scientists and other information technology workers, and prohibiting
states from
passing laws that deny human services illegal immigrants or their
children.
McCain believes that these are the steps that need to be taken
to work for more
rights for immigrants.12 While these four experienced
politicians, each of whom
holds or has previously held high public office,
struggle to articulate
differences between them on the major issues of the
day, there is, in reality,
little difference between them. This is
particularly true given the booming
economy and a certain level of
complacency among the American population. These
similarities have spawned
the candidacies of politicians such as Pat Buchanan
who himself has struggled
to define his own positions and appeal to the American
electorate. In
reality, many have come to view our political system as a one
party system,
perhaps one with "two heads," each of which espouses similar
if not identical
positions on virtually all major issues and has great
difficulty in defining
itself to the voting public therefore generating little
excitement in the
greatest democracy in the world.
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