Howard Dean in Winning Back America
On Tax Reform:
Bush’s tax cuts part of master strategy of govt starvation
The president’s tax cuts are much more than simply a giveaway to friends. They are part of a master strategy to starve the core programs that have shaped our country’s safety net: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,
and countless other programs designed to ensure that our middle class stays strong and working families can make ends meet.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.108
Dec 3, 2003
On Technology:
The Internet will become a key player in political debate.
I believe that the Web is now proving to be a particularly valuable tool for people engaged positively in the political process. The Internet is interactive; the internet is a genuine forum for debate.
People have talk radio on in the background; they log on to the Internet and participate.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.117
Dec 3, 2003
On Principles & Values:
Attracts people who’ve felt excluded from the process
[At a campaign event in Seattle with 1,200 people attending], I stopped in the middle of my speech and said, “Would you raise your hand if you haven’t been involved in politics in the last 10 or 15 years?” Half the people raised their hands. These were
exactly the type of Americans who have felt excluded from the process, who believed for so long that they had no power to change the course of this country. Clearly, Americans are disaffected with politics and with politicians. They do not believe
that politicians are responsive to them; they don’t think government is on their side; they are not particularly interested in the political process. This disaffection must be responsible for a significant proportion of the public’s lack of engagement.
We need people to get involved again.
Part of the answer is to speak directly to the people. I can’t stand Washington-speak, the kind of double-talk and evasiveness that is habitual inside the Beltway. I think that most Americans share my aversion.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.118-21
Dec 3, 2003
On Corporations:
Government of, by, and for the special interests
Another reason our democracy is having a difficult time right now is because of the influence of money in our political process. People watch the process from afar, and they see the special tax breaks & loopholes that special interests are able to obtain
Our founders feared that economic power would one day seize political power. Frankly, that fear has been realized with the Bush administration. The largest corporations and wealthiest individuals benefit from tax cuts that are bankrupting the states.
They reward the largest political contributors at the expense of today’s middle class, whose property taxes are skyrocketing.
Meanwhile, the oil companies write our energy policy, big pharmaceutical companies draft Medicare reform;
and Halliburton is awarded no-bid contracts in Iraq. It is a government of, by, and for the special interests. The only way the American people are included in the process is that we are left to pay the hills.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.123-4
Dec 3, 2003
On Welfare & Poverty:
Dean Corps replaces under-funded AmeriCorps
I’m proud of an idea my supporters in Iowa came up with, which they’ve called Dean Corps, to rebuild their local communities. Dean Corps is based on AmeriCorps. Members donate their time, energy, and labor to community service. Dean Corps began in Iowa,
intending to fill in the vacuum left by the Bush administration’s underfunding of AmeriCorps, which hit Iowa particularly hard. Dean Corps has been active in the unemployed community in Iowa, and it is also doing environmental outreach and developing
programs to help ensure that the needs of seniors are met.The first Dean Corps event I participated in was at the Johnson County Crisis Center in Iowa City. We collected more than 320 pounds of donated food for unemployed Iowans who were having
difficulty making ends meet. The Crisis Center exists because hardworking Americans are willing to volunteer their time. Thanks to their contributions, their neighbors have a resource to fall back no when they are having trouble feeding their family.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.135
Dec 3, 2003
On Immigration:
Don’t divide immigrants-we all are
Immigrants are vital to this country. When I am giving a speech, I will often stop and ask how many people in the audience are Native Americans. A couple of people might put up their hands. Then I say, “The rest of you are all immigrants,
the sons and daughters and grandchildren and descendants of immigrants.” This is the legacy of our country.Today, immigrants are among the hardest-working people in this country. They’re often working two jobs, paying their taxes,
and contributing to the well-being of their community. They came here for a better life and are looking to raise their kids and give them in turn a better life than they had themselves. This aspiration and hard work are part of the strength of our nation
and we need to support these hard-working people. We cannot allow politicians to try to divide us and turn us against them on the basis of their being immigrants or on the basis of race.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.142
Dec 3, 2003
On Abortion:
Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision
I believe that the issue of abortion is a medical rather than a political decision. I don’t see how a government regulation that tells doctors how to practice medicine can be supported.
Republicans claim that they are the party of individual freedom, but they are the first to tell other people how to live their lives.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.142-3
Dec 3, 2003
On Technology:
Bush spends money on Iraq while US infrastructure crumbles
There are areas of our economy that require immediate attention and that are being ignored. Our infrastructure is one. At a time when the president has gone to congress to ask for $87 billion to help rebuild Iraq, the American Society of Civil Engineers
issued a report on the American infrastructure. Our school buildings were given a grade of D-, our roads a D+. There are twenty-six hundred unsafe dams in the country, and a quarter of the bridges are in bad repair.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.153
Dec 3, 2003
On Technology:
Infrastructure requires immediate attention--being ignored
There are some areas of our economy that require immediate attention and that are being ignored. Our infrastructure is one. At a time when the president has asked Congress for $87 billion to help rebuild Iraq, our school buildings [are crumbling];
there are 2,600 unsafe dams in the country; and a quarter of the bridges are in bad repair. Instead of the reckless economic agenda this administration has pursued, I believe we need to focus on creating jobs, balancing the budget,
and ensuring that working Americans can make ends meet. To create jobs, we’ve got to invest again, not just in infrastructure but in the research and development of the industries that will propel this country to the future, from broadband to biotech.
And we need a special focus on small business, which is the single biggest engine of job creation. Small businesses stay in their communities, they don’t move overseas.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.153-4
Dec 3, 2003
On Foreign Policy:
Bush has squandered foreign goodwill
When George W. Bush was running for president in 2000, he pledged a foreign policy based on humility. Instead, our foreign policy has ended up based on humiliation. After September 11, 2001, most of the world had such goodwill toward our country.
It is amazing to me how that goodwill has been completely squandered in just two years. Increasing numbers of people in Europe, Asia, and in our own hemisphere cite America not as a pillar of freedom and democracy, but as a threat to peace.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.162
Dec 3, 2003
On Homeland Security:
America is about value of freedom not just military strength
I believe [Americans] are ready for leadership that would strive not to divide the world into ‘us versus them,’ but rather to rally the world around fundamental principles of decency, responsibility, freedom, and mutual respect. Our foreign and military
policies must be about the notion of America leading the world, not America against the world. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy built and strengthened international institutions, rather than dismissing and disparaging the concerns of allies.
Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.162-3
Dec 3, 2003
On Civil Rights:
Egalitarianism implies the legality of gay civil unions
I believe that all people are created equal, certainly in the eyes of God. Therefore, they should be equal in the eyes of the law. That’s why I knew I had to work for civil unions. I never viewed the bill as a gay rights issue.
I signed it out of a commitment to human rights, and because every single American has the same right to equality and justice under the law that I have.
Source: Winning Back America, p.157, on Vermont Voting Record H.847
Dec 3, 2003
Page last updated: Feb 26, 2019