Gore Urges Bush to Focus on Economy
nytimes.com
"...Gore said, ``If we turn a blind eye to our weak economy, it will eventually undermine everything else we're trying to accomplish -- from winning the war on terrorism to giving all families the economic opportunities they deserve.''
He urged Bush to do what Ronald Reagan did at the same point in his presidency before the midterm elections of 1982 -- reassess economic policy ``to examine what is working and what is not.''
The former vice president said there are some priorities that must be addressed, no matter what else is changed. Those include providing resources for homeland security and a fund to cover the estimated costs of war with Iraq as well as a short-term economic stimulus program, he said."
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October 2, 2002
Gore Urges Bush to Focus on Economy
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:59 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Gore urged President Bush on Wednesday to focus on the nation's stalled economy the way he has on international affairs because ``America's economy is in big trouble.''
Gore called for a short-term stimulus program that would include extended unemployment benefits and help for small businesses ``to jolt the U.S. economy out of stagnation.''
He warned against waiting until Congress returns next year to consider economic steps because ``in the interim, a global recession -- or worse -- could already have taken hold.''
``How can it be essential that the Congress authorize war prior to the election, but it be absolutely fine to wait until after the election to deal with the economy?'' Gore asked, saying important domestic issues are not being debated five weeks before the elections.
The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee said Bush doesn't have to change his basic philosophy but does need to make economic adjustments to match current conditions.
``I am not asking the president to abandon his ideology,'' Gore said in a speech at the Brookings Institution. ``I am suggesting that he should try to reconcile his ideology with the realities now being faced by the American people.''
Gore, who is considering a run for president in 2004, said the country has a weak economy, faces a crisis in financial markets and is moving closer to war.
He urged Bush and congressional leaders to ``undertake a complete reassessment of our current economic blueprint because what we are doing now is not working.'' He said the Bush administration needs to replace some members of its economic team, but when asked later who he was talking about, he declined to be specific.
He said the president has ``tried to create the impression that our economic problems are primarily due to the terrorist attacks.'' But he said no objective economist could come to the same conclusion, adding that current economic policies have played a major role.
The president is ``like a lost driver who won't stop to ask for directions.''
``The president clutches his old plan and continues racing in the wrong direction, farther and farther into the economic wilderness,'' Gore said, ``with the fate of nearly 300 million Americans in tow.''
Gore said, ``If we turn a blind eye to our weak economy, it will eventually undermine everything else we're trying to accomplish -- from winning the war on terrorism to giving all families the economic opportunities they deserve.''
He urged Bush to do what Ronald Reagan did at the same point in his presidency before the midterm elections of 1982 -- reassess economic policy ``to examine what is working and what is not.''
The former vice president said there are some priorities that must be addressed, no matter what else is changed. Those include providing resources for homeland security and a fund to cover the estimated costs of war with Iraq as well as a short-term economic stimulus program, he said.
Gore's speech on the economy came a little more than a week after he criticized Bush policy on Iraq and the war on terrorism. A number of other Democrats followed those comments by stating their own concerns.
Copyright The Associated Press |
