Al Gore on Jobs 2000 Democratic Nominee for President; Former Vice President

Sub-sections under Jobs:
• Farm Policy
• Labor
• Other issues under Jobs

Farmers are the first environmentalists

Safety net for farmers & focused rural development

GORE: We’ve got a bumper crop this year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the prices are low. The so-called Freedom to Farm Law has been mostly a failure. I want to change many of its provisions. Farmers have been having a hard time, and I want to fight for you. I want to restore a meaningful safety net. I’ll go beyond that and say I think we need much more focused rural economic development programs.

Kill Freedom to Farm Act: keep price supports

A: I believe we must maintain America’s food security and protect our vital agricultural lands. As president, I will work to maintain flexibility and freedom in what farmers choose to plant while providing our independent family farmers the support they need during hard times. The fact that prices and farm income have remained so low for so long, and that billions of dollars in emergency farm aid was needed over the past two years, shows that the ‘Freedom to Farm’ Act is misguided and wholly inadequate in a climate of declining crop prices and turmoil in overseas markets. I believe that we must restore the farm income safety net for family farmers with a system that increases support when crop prices or yields fall unexpectedly. That doesn’t mean going back to an outdated system where government tells farmers what crops to produce.

Preserve free-flows, pristine peaks, & salmon fisheries

No timber sales in national forest roadless areas. Period.

Many environmental groups said Clinton’s proposal did not go far enough because it would not prevent logging, and exempted the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the nation’s largest. Today, Gore addressed both those complaints, saying he would bar logging as well as road-building in the roadless areas, and would extend the same protections to the Tongass. [Gore said he would] “preserve these roadless areas as they are, no ifs, ands or buts about it. No more destructive development. No new road-building and no timber sales in the roadless areas. Period.”

Base farm policy, like hormones in livestock, on science

Limit logging in National Forests but protect way of life

Supports ethanol subsidies & “farm safety net”

Triple use of biomass, ethanol, plant-based textiles, etc.

Reduce poverty to 10% via welfare reform & minimum wage

In the last eight years, poverty has fallen to its lowest level in a generation - in large measure because of our strong economy. But we can do better: we should all fight to reduce child poverty. And I am committed to taking concrete steps to see to it that fewer than one in ten Americans - children and adults -- will live in poverty by the end of the next Presidential term.
• Let’s raise the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit, so that work always pays more than welfare.
• Let’s move more and more families from welfare to work.
• Let’s help more working parents pay for child care - which can make all the difference in getting and keeping a full-time job.
• Let’s make dramatic reductions in poverty among the elderly.

Support equal pay for equal work

For too long, men and women have seen vast disparity in their earnings. The typical woman still earns only 73% of what the typical man earns. It is time to close that gap. This gap reflects not just discrimination, but also that fewer women go into the highest paying occupations. Nation must tackle both problems.
• Fight for paycheck fairness and help employers comply with equal pay requirements
• Improve access to high-tech, high-wage jobs
• Strengthen women’s entrepreneurship

Promises labor prosperity, repeal of striker replacement law

$2.3B in tax credits for worker training

Gore’s new investments [in training] will cost $2.3 billion over ten years and include expanded training for transitioning workers and support for appropriate training:
• Support for training to meet the needs of local communities: Gore is today proposing to offer competitive grants to communities that develop a plan to partner with local workforce boards, industry, and labor groups.
• Expanded training for dislocated workers:Gore is today proposing to provide matching challenge grants to states that provide a training allowance to all unemployed workers in approved training programs so they complete their training.
• Employer tax credits for technology training:To make it easier for workers to succeed in the new economy, Gore’s plan would offer employers up to a $6,000 tax credit per employee for worker training in information technology and other technology skills.

To union: we disagree on China; but agree elsewhere

The AFL-CIO has made defeat of the China trade bill its top legislative priority for the year. Labor argues that free trade costs American jobs and does nothing to ensure labor rights overseas.

Supports Coal Miner and Widows Health Protection Act

Earlier this year, [Gore proposed] securing the long-term solvency of the United Mine Workers Combined Benefit Fund, which was created by Congress in 1992 to provide for the continuation of health benefits for retired coal miners and their families. ”In 1992, Congress reaffirmed a promise that was first made more than a half century ago by the coal industry and the federal government,“ Gore said. ”I intend to work with the Congress to make sure that this promise is kept.“

Add $1 to minimum wage; add earned-income credits

Injuries can be reduced by workers self-identifying hazards.