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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: laura_bush who wrote (4559)	2/29/2004 6:52:36 PM
From: Bearcatbob	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Sure - paying for health care is part of the plan. Tell me Laura - is your whole future well being tied to a government welfare program like Social Security. Do you not think that money should be used to help the needy - or are you one who leaves your welfare in the hands of the government?

To: laura_bush who wrote (4559)	2/29/2004 9:21:08 PM
From: ChinuSFO	Respond to of 81568

...contd from ajc.com Jobless Americans are the victims of tectonic shifts brought on by globalization, every bit as dramatic and unsettling as the shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial one 150 or so years ago. Facing such forces, the federal government cannot save the job of every American worker. But it can help save both his dignity and his ability to earn a living. The Bush team, a cavalier bunch of wealthy and well-connected folk who have little experience with job loss, haven't done much to shore up the social safety net for unemployed workers. Since the Reagan era, the GOP's response to economic misfortune has been, "It's your own fault." Moreover, Bush's tax cuts and increased spending -- which created a gargantuan deficit -- have limited his ability to help the unemployed. Perhaps that's why he's trying to distract voters with the bogeyman of gay marriage. By contrast, Kerry and Edwards propose rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy to pay for more job training, an expanded health care program for the less affluent and incentives to American companies for job creation. Kerry, for example, proposes pouring federal dollars into research on alternative fuels, which, he says, would decrease dependence on foreign oil and create jobs in a budding industry. The most rational proposals don't overpromise. Some middle-aged workers, for example, will probably have to accept easing gently into retirement with a lesser paycheck. A 50-year-old who loses her job at a manufacturing plant may not be interested in job retraining, especially if the new job would require relocating to a distant city. But she may settle for part-time work or running a small business from her home. Federal policy ought to ensure that she has health care coverage until she qualifies for Medicare. Younger jobless workers, however, should be encouraged to seek job retraining, even if they are college-educated. (Outsourcing has left highly educated financial analysts, accountants and software programmers, among others, out of work.) Federal funds could provide not only job training but also extended unemployment benefits and a temporary health care plan. Then there's basic education itself. Two decades' worth of education reform proposals -- from Washington and from the states -- have failed to substantively improve academic achievement for children from poorer households. If all Americans were competent in basic literacy and math skills, retraining them in new industries would be far easier. Nothing about the new global economy will be easy, and few people know that better than American workers who watch their jobs leave the country without them. Let's tell them something they won't hear from Bush: They deserve help.