Al Gore in The Boston Globe
On Health Care:
Claims of Bush’s choices & benefits are underestimated
GORE: A married man, 70 years old, with income of $25,000 a year. under Bush’s plan, would not get one penny for four to five years.ANALYSIS: This is TRUE if the couple’s annual drug bill does not exceed $6,000. If it did, under Bush’s plan, the
government would pay the rest.
GORE: And after 4 to 5 years, they would be forced to go into an HMO or to an insurance company.
ANALYSIS: This is NOT TRUE. They would not be forced into an HMO or private plan-they could choose to remain in Medicare.
Source: Presidential Debate, Boston Globe, “Number Crunch”, p. A15
Oct 11, 2000
On Tax Reform:
Claim that every family is eligible for tax cut is unlikely
GORE: “Every middle class family is eligible for a tax cut under my proposal.”ANALYSIS: This statement is only true if every middle class family has children in day care or in college.
An accounting firm assessed how Gore’s proposals would
affect hypothetical families, and their report found that the following would receive no tax breaks:- Single person with no children earning $39,000
- Retired couple earning $59,000
- Single earner couple with two children earning $78,000
Source: Presidential Debate, Boston Globe, “Number Crunch”, p. A15
Oct 11, 2000
On Tax Reform:
Claim that Bush benefits “top 1%” only true with estate tax
GORE: Bush would spend more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% than all of the new spending he proposes for [social programs plus defense]. ANALYSIS: Gore uses a report by Citizens for Tax Justice, an advocacy organization whose mission
includes “requiring the wealthy to pay their fair share.” CTJ says that 42.6% ($546B) of Bush’s tax cut would go to the top 1% income group, those who earn at least $319,000 annually. CTJ INCLUDES repeal of the estate tax, which they say will help the
top 1% almost exclusively.
Gore has applied CTJ’s figure of 42.6% to the $1.3 trillion value that Bush gives his tax cut, and comes up with $546 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%. And he contrasts that with the roughly $475 billion in Bush’s
spending initiatives. But if the estate tax is REMOVED from the equation, Bush’s tax cut falls to $1.06 trillion and CTJ says 30% of it goes to the wealthiest 1%. That totals $318 billion, about $157 billion less than Bush’s new spending initiatives.
Source: Presidential Debate, Boston Globe, “Number Crunch”, p. A15
Oct 11, 2000
On Drugs:
Clinton-Gore drug policy: spending up; drug use down
Calling teen drug statistics “one of the worst public policy failures of the ‘90s,” Bush described a mounting national crisis. “From 1979 to 1992, our nation confronted drug abuse successfully. Teen drug use declined each and every year,” Bush said.
“Unfortunately, in the last 7-1/2 years, fighting drug abuse has ceased to be a national priority.” Blaming a lack of funding and an inconsistent policy, Bush listed a litany of troubles: the doubling of teen drug use, the growth of methamphetamines,
the increase of the number of high school seniors who use marijuana. Gore aides dismissed the Bush statistics, saying they did not take the overall picture into account. Since 1992, the number of drug users ages 25 to 34 has dropped 39%, and drug use
by teenagers ages 12 to 17 declined 21% between 1997 and 1999, a Gore spokesman said: He added, “Al Gore and this administration proposed the largest antidrug budget ever and under this administration drug arrests are up while drug use is down.”
Source: (X-ref Bush) Kornblut and Johnson, Boston Globe, p. A6
Oct 7, 2000
On Education:
Yes, poor parents in failing schools might like vouchers
Al Gore, the situational ethicist, recently said: “If I was the parent of a child who went to an inner-city school that was failing. I might be for vouchers, too.”
Source: Boston Globe, editorial by George F. Will, p. A22
Aug 31, 2000
On Social Security:
Open questions: future surplus & future discipline
| Bush | Gore |
|---|
- Allow investing an unspecified amount of payroll taxes in the stock market.
- Does not preclude decreasing guaranteed benefits for future retirees.
| Use the federal budget surplus
to pay down the debt and use the interest saved to keep Social Security solvent.- Subsidized retirement savings plan open to families earning up to $100,000 a year.
|
| Unanswered questions |
|---|
- Will the
government bail out people who make poor investment decisions?
- What about the costs of making the transition to & then maintaining the accounts?
- If some payroll taxes are diverted to private accounts, how will the government make up the difference
for current retirees?
| - What if future administrations don’t display the kind of fiscal discipline Gore’s plan requires?
- What if the projections of budget surplus money to pay down the debt doesn’t come true?
|
Source: Associated Press in Boston Globe, p. A10
Jul 5, 2000
On Education:
Agrees with unions against vouchers; disagrees on testing
Gore has hewed close to the needs and desires of teachers. If Gore wins, there will be a payoff for teachers unions. “They get a president who’s probably going to veto any bill that has the slightest hint of a voucher program in it,” [a policy expert]
said. “They’re going to get a president who’s probably going to propose new spending programs on education.”[In the Iowa primaries], Gore said that he would propose testing all new teachers and allow schools to hire teachers based on their expertise,
without regard to seniority. Both ideas have long been anathema to the unions. NEA officials insist that they support testing of new teachers, but not existing ones, and in April the AFT proposed a national test for new teachers.
In May, Gore served
up two more controversial ideas: setting standards for teacher tenure based partly on student performance and giving bonuses to good teachers based in part on student performance.
Source: Jill Zuckman, Boston Globe, p. A10
Jun 3, 2000
On Health Care:
Require insurance coverage of experimental cancer trials
Gore said yesterday he wanted to add a provision to the proposed “patients’ bill of rights” that would require insurance companies to cover experimental “clinical trials” in cancer treatment. “If somebody has cancer and they’re covered by insurance,
and there is a clinical trial going on that the doctors believe is appropriate for the patient, it ought to be covered,” Gore said.While health plans have been increasingly willing to cover the cost to beneficiaries of clinical trials, they have
resisted efforts to make coverage a requirement because of the potentially great costs.
Gore also said he wanted to set aside funds to make specific information about cancer care more quickly available to doctors and hospitals. That information
would come from the National Institutes of Health and the Library of Medicine. Federal funding for NIH research has increased enormously in recent years and has wide bipartisan support.
Source: Mark Kaufman of the Washington Post, in Boston Globe, p. A7
May 29, 2000
On Technology:
Tighten privacy protections over medical information
In an effort to outlaw discrimination based on genetic makeup, Gore is proposing legislation to tighten privacy protections over medical information. Gore said yesterday
that “unless we pass these protections, then there are going to be an awful lot of people who will not go and get the tests done.” Gore said people fear that the genetic tests might show they need treatments that
could cause problems with their group health plans or could lead to other workplace discrimination. He said there is strong bipartisan support for medical privacy protections and the ban
on genetic discrimination. The Clinton administration this year banned federal agencies from using genetic testing to deny jobs or promotions to their workers.
Source: Mark Kaufman of the Washington Post, in Boston Globe, p. A7
May 29, 2000
On Homeland Security:
$1.2 billion in new education money for veterans
Al Gore courted veterans yesterday with $1.2 billion in new education money for them, their families, and their survivors. “Those who fight for our security should never have to fight for the education they need to succeed,” Gore said at a VFW post.
Gore’s plan would increase monthly payments to veterans and families by 25%, from $536 to $670. Gore said that would be the largest increase in their education funding since the program began 16 years ago as part of the GI Bill.
Benefits also would be indexed to inflation and veterans could use the money for other types of learning during school breaks. Gore said no new money would be needed to pay for the increased benefits since they would be covered
by the money available from the Veterans Administration. “We don’t give our veterans anything,” Gore concluded. “You have earned what you get with blood, sweat, and tears.”
Source: Associated Press in Boston Globe, p. A36
May 11, 2000
On Health Care:
“Outrageous scare tactics” on Medicare’s HIV treatment?
Gore claimed yesterday that Bradley’s health care plan would deprive people with HIV and AIDS of health coverage. Gore said Bradley’s plan would hurt poor people with HIV because it called for abolishing Medicaid. The government
health care program for the poor.
Bradley responded that his plan would call for current Medicaid recipients to receive coverage under the system of private insurance that now covers federal employees, which he contends would be
superior to Medicaid.
Gore’s press secretary then responded, “Bradley’s health plan would replace Medicaid with a $150 monthly voucher, which will not begin to cover the many services required by people with HIV and
AIDS.”
Bradley accused Gore of resorting to “outrageous scare tactics” in criticizing his plan.
Source: (X-ref to Bradley) Boston Globe, p. A21
Feb 15, 2000
On Free Trade:
Open markets with safeguards for labor and environment
Gore defended his support of opening trade into new markets in a speech to Cleveland’s steel workers. “Some of you all disagree with me on the extent to which I’d like to see opening up of new markets,” Gore said.
But Gore also told the workers that he agreed that labor and environmental issues should be part of international trade talks.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A34, “Political Briefs”
Dec 14, 1999
On Environment:
Gore proposes $2B to counter suburban sprawl
Al Gore proposed spending $2 billion over ten years to set aside more parkland and combat suburban sprawl.
The money would come from a mining industry fee. “All working families deserve easy access to parks and open space, whether they live in the inner city or on the growing edge of suburbia,” he said.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A8, “Political Briefs”
Nov 15, 1999
On Tax Reform:
$792B tax cut is a “risky tax scheme”
In virtually every public appearance, Gore ominously utters the words “risky tax scheme.” He has been chanting that mantra since 1996; in his debate with Jack Kemp, he chanted it eight times. Then, it was a put-down of Bob Dole’s proposed 15% tax cut;
now it’s a put-down of the tax cuts pending in Congress.
Source: Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, editorial, p. A15
Aug 30, 1999
On Education:
Education is best anti-poverty, anti-discrimination program
Gore said, “We must realize that education is the greatest anti-poverty program, the most powerful anti-discrimination strategy we could ever have.” Gore said pre-school programs should be extended “for every child, in every community in America.”
Source: Boston Globe, p. A12, “Gore details plan”
May 17, 1999
On Education:
$10K “Teacher Corps” bonus; hire & test teachers
At a commencement speech at Graceland College, Gore called for:- Hiring 2.2 million new teachers, while making them pass tough tests;
- A new teacher corps offering $10,000 to go to college to become a teacher and a $10,000 bonus to switch from
other professions;
- Expanding pre-school and after-school programs;
- Toughening states’ teacher licensing;
- Promoting special “second-chance schools” for troubled youngsters;
- Expanding family leave so parents could become more involved.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A12, “Gore details plan”
May 17, 1999
On Education:
More choice, more local control, within public schools
At a commencement speech at Graceland College, Gore called for:- More choices for parents within the public school system;
- More control for local school officials over staff, budget, and student advancement;
- Programs to identify “failing
schools” and give parents more leeway in putting their children in different schools.
Neither Gore nor aides would say how much his proposals might cost. Gore said, “Every one of these proposals will be fully paid for within a balanced budget.”
Source: Boston Globe, p. A12, “Gore details plan”
May 17, 1999
On Environment:
Control clean air in National Parks
Gore will announce [today] a new federal push to bring air quality over national parks -- some of which now choke in summer smog -- back to pristine, pre-industrial levels. States [must] adopt pollution controls that steadily improve air quality in each
of the next six decades with a goal to eliminating man-made pollution by 2064. For the first time, the government will force states to assess the sources of park air pollution and require some sources to install more sophisticated control technology.
Source: Boston Globe, Sunday April 25, 1999, p.A27, by H. J. Hebert
Apr 25, 1999
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