Al Gore in The Economist

On Education: Agrees with teacher unions on vouchers, salary, & class size

On Environment: Replace sprawl with “smart growth”; $7.8B on Everglades

On Foreign Policy: Supports New Security Agenda and Third-World debt relief

Gore was one of a handful of hawkish Democrats who voted in favor of the Gulf War in 1991. His speeches emphasize traditional balance-of-power questions, such as arms control. But he also has a fondness for the “new security agenda” - issues that affect the security of states and the stability of regimes, but which are immune from traditional diplomatic or military pressure. As president, he would:
• resubmit to the Senate for ratification the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), rejected in 1999
• would campaign for further increases in the defense budget
• will urge Congress to grant more debt relief for developing countries
• is prepared to engage in humanitarian interventions abroad
• treats missile-shield idea with some caution, and would negotiate both revisions to the ABM treaty and cuts in nuclear missiles with Russia
• would ratify the Kyoto accords on climate change

On Free Trade: Link trade to environment and labor

Gore is clearly torn between his instinctive support of free trade and his need to win the support of unions. Gore:
• wants to “continue to knock down the barriers to free and fair trade” (make countries open their doors to American products)
• supports linking trade agreements to labor and environmental standards
• wants to obtain “fast-track” negotiating authority that includes power to negotiate labor and environmental standards
• supports making the WTO more open and accountable.

On Government Reform: Ban soft money and provide free broadcast time

On Gun Control: No special lawsuit protection for gun makers

On Health Care: Cover 12 million uninsured at a 10-year cost of $157 billion

Gore has a more articulate, wide-ranging strategy on health, besides a more aggressive attitude to drug companies and HMOs. He proposes to:
• Cover 12 million uninsured at a 10-year cost of $157 billion
• proposes to extend health insurance to the uninsured by expanding the State-Children’s Insurance Program (S-CHIP) to include both more children and also their parents.
• wants to change the Medicare rules to let Americans buy into the program with the help of a 25% tax credit, ten years earlier than they can now. Estimates for costs and coverage are 12 million more Americans insured, at a cost of $157 billion over ten years.
• proposes providing a subsidized prescription drug benefit to all enrolled in Medicare, administered through the existing Medicare system. Estimated costs: $253 billion over ten years.
• supports a patients’ bill of rights which extends broad rights such as guaranteed access to specialists and the ability to sue negligent health plans.

On Principles & Values: Practical Idealism: centrist on most issues

On Social Security: Paying off national debt keeps trust fund solvent until 2054

Gore wants to maintain the existing Social Security system (and indeed raise benefits), by subsidizing it from general taxation. He would:
• would pay down the national debt as soon as possible, and transfer the equivalent of the interest saved to the Social Security trust fund
• supports providing increased Social Security benefits to widows and women who take time off to bring up children
• opposes raising retirement age to 70
• would introduce, in addition to Social Security, individual accounts called “Retirement Savings Plus”, in which savings would be matched (at different rates according to income) by the federal government

On Tax Reform: Target surplus at national debt, rainy days, & education

Gore would like to continue the “disciplined” and “prudent” economic policies of the Clinton administration. In particular, he would:
• Pay off federal debt in public hands by 2012.
• Set aside $300 billion of the surplus as a reserve in case rosy projections do not materialize.
• Introduce tax credits for retirement accounts targetd at low- and middle-income Americans.
• Reduce the “marriage tax penalty” by increasing the standard deduction for married couples.
• Offer tax credits for health insurance, make the child-care credit refundable, provide tax relief for stay-at-home parents, introduce tax credits for long-term care.
• make up to $10,000 in college tuition costs tax deductible; create tax-advantaged accounts to save for education and training; create a new refundable After-School Tax Credit.

On Technology: “Digital Cabinet” of high-tech advisors

The new wired world brings out few differences between the candidates. Both have done plenty of pandering to the high-tech industry. Gore:
• created a “digital cabinet” of high-tech advisors dubbed “Gore Techs”
• supports technology that would filter out pornography
• calls for an “electronic bill of rights for privacy”
• Along with Bush, Gore would extend the moratorium on Internet taxes, favor tax credits for R&D, support high-tech exports, & double the number of skilled worker visas.

On Welfare & Poverty: Strengthen voluntary charity as well as federal welfare

Al Gore thinks the government can do a lot to help poor Americans, although he, like Bush, wants to strengthen the voluntary sector. Gore would:
• increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour
• expand the Earned-Income tax credit
• crack down on “deadbeat dads” and force them to pay child support
• encourage businesses to move into poor areas
• make sure people eligible for food stamps and Medicaid actually get them
• expand the child and dependent-care tax credit and make it refundable
• expand federal spending on child-care subsidies
• give all four-year-olds (not just poor ones) access to pre-school education
• strengthen Social Security benefits for elderly women living alone