Friday, October 10, 2003
What the Democratic candidates have to say
John
Kerry
Kerry promises to create jobs for the 3 million
people who have lost work since 2000 and seek a
new manufacturing tax credit. Kerry would also seek tax relief for the middle class while ending relief for corporations.
Kerry supported the Iraq war but now says changes should be made. He wants more United Nations help with military personnel and reconstruction.
Kerry supported President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act but wants to free local schools from some of the guidelines. He would continue programs that reduce class sizes and expand early education programs.
Joe
Lieberman
Lieberman would seek an investment tax cut and eliminate capital gains taxes for new investments in small companies. He would also support more money for long-term research and development in science and engineering.
Lieberman supports the war in Iraq. But he would assemble an international security force, hold a conference on debt relief for Iraq and establish an oil oversight board.
Lieberman supports the No Child Left Behind Act and would seek to fully fund it. He would also seek to improve science education by attracting more students to the field.
Howard
Dean
Dean would attempt to repeal the Bush tax cuts of the last two years and use the money to pay for universal health care and job creation. He would also return to balanced budgets and create a simpler tax system.
Dean opposed the war in Iraq.
Dean would expand the Success by Six program he began in Vermont. He would expand student health centers, focus on parental involvement, increase money for elementary and secondary education improvement and oppose reductions in vocational education programs.
Carol
Moseley
Braun
Moseley Braun would repeal all Bush tax cuts and would use the money to invest in infrastructure such as new roads.
She opposed the war. But with American troops in Iraq, she now supports a rebuilding effort and wants more international support.
Moseley Braun would provide federal money for Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, but she would make changes.
Dick
Gephardt
Gephardt would seek an international minimum wage to ensure livable wages in all countries. That would help end the competition from slave and child labor and sweatshops now taking American jobs. He would also seek an increase in the U.S. minimum wage.
Gephardt would seek United Nations help for troops and money.
Gephardt would expand loan programs and increase eligibility for financial aid. He would also provide a new tax deduction for college education for the first $10,000 a year.
Dennis Kucinich
Kucinich would seek withdrawal from the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement. He would also seek to repeal some of the recent tax cuts, including the estate tax.
"Unfortunately, in the case of Iraq, our involvement in Iraq was based on lies. This administration tried to tell the American people that Iraq had something to do with 9/11, with al-Qaida's role in 9/11, with the anthrax attack, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that Iraq had the intention and the ability to attack this nation. All of those things are not true." Kucinich would increase spending on education and seek to decrease class sizes and renovate decaying schools. He would also seek more money for pre-kindergarten and after-school programs.
Wesley
Clark
Clark said unions will play bigger role in the future. We need more support for unions, not less, he said.
Clark said he worked with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, but was disappointed with how they and others in the administration have led. "I'm traveling all around this country. I'm getting tremendous response, response from Democrats, Independents, people who've never been engaged in politics and Republicans who are looking to us, to me, for a new vision and new leadership to take this country forward."
He seeks education for all from preschool through adulthood with emphasis on access and fundamental educational skills.
John
Edwards
Edwards would seek to repeal what he called the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and close corporate loopholes. But Edwards would seek tax breaks for companies that create jobs.
Edwards supported the war but wants a larger international role.
Edwards would create new after-school programs and create smaller high schools. He also wants to provide one free year of college education in return for 10 hours a week of community service.
Al
Sharpton
Sharpton would embark on a $250 billion infrastructure program to build roads and a high-speed rail line across the country.
"The president went to the U.N. and said, 'Help us on my terms.' If I were president, I would go in and say, 'We were wrong,' "
Bush's No Child Left Behind did not go far enough. Nor did it seek the proper amount of money. He would seek more money and make the program stronger.
Star reporter Barrett Marson compiled this information from the debate, Web sites and wire sources
