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Carol Moseley-Braun on JobsFormer IL Senator; Democratic Candidate for President |
SHARPTON: We must be honest about discrimination and have a president that will enforce anti-discrimination laws. We still have institutional discrimination in this country, which is worse than blatant discrimination. What is hurting us is that 50 years ago, we had to watch out for people with white sheets. Now they have on pinstripe suits. They discriminate against our advancement and our achievement.
MOSELEY-BRAUN: I think the answer lies in providing capital for the development of jobs and businesses in communities where people live. Because if you give someone the ability to create a business, provide equity capital, give people the ability to begin to create those businesses that will help lift up communities, that will go a long way to solving the endemic problem of institutional racism, of discrimination and of the lack of jobs in African-American and Hispanic communities.
MOSELEY BRAUN: Unlike [the elder] George Bush, who said no new taxes, this Bush seems to think the answer is no new jobs. We need to create jobs in America again, and the way that we do it is to focus in on the fundamentals. While the short-term numbers look good-the stock market has gone up and the like-our fundamentals are really in trouble: huge current account deficits, huge budget deficits, a trade deficit with China alone of $100 billion. We are going to have to take steps to reverse those trends that are sinking our economy and sinking our ability to create jobs.
What would I do? First, health-care reform. That not only solves a social problem, but also a way to take the costs of health care off of the back of our productive sector, our manufacturers, our small businesses, so that we can create jobs here at home. Second, environmental protection. Creating whole new industries with technology transfer. That's the direction in which I'd head.
MOSELEY-BRAUN: [Bush is] the worst president on the economy, in terms of jobs, 6 million jobs lost.
FACTCHECK: Actually, the economy hasn't lost anything close to 6 million jobs. As of the latest figures released last month, the economy had 2.3 million fewer total jobs in November than when Bush took office. Even at the worst of the job slump last July, the job loss was just 2.7 million. Note: Many Democrats like to cite the loss in private sector jobs, not total employment. Focusing only on private-sector jobs ignores the tens of thousands of new government workers hired-including teachers, policemen and federal airport security workers-and makes the job slump sound worse than it was. But even the loss of private-sector jobs under Bush now stands at 2.7 million according to most recent statistics. It did go to 3.2 million at the worst of the slump.
A: I think AmeriCorps is important. I think public service is important. I sincerely believe that young people ought to be optimistic about the future, ought to be optimistic that their leadership will be honest with them, will tell them what the real deal is and that will allow for young people to contribute to making this society better, to breaking down the barriers and making us as Americans who we can be.
MOSELEY-BRAUN: If you invest in the masses of the people, you can create jobs and create the kind of stimulus for the economy that will give prosperity to everybody.
Q: How do you create those jobs?
MOSELEY-BRAUN: When I was in the Senate, I proposed rebuilding our nation's crumbling schools. That's one way. A second way is to begin to rebuild traditional infrastructure--roads and bridges and the like. Another way is to invest in environmental technologies.