Here is a point-by-point rebuttal of Bush's acceptance speech on the economy. The last comment:
His policies of tax and spend -- of expanding government rather than expanding opportunity -- are the policies of the past. We are on the path to the future -- and we are not turning back.
COMMENT: President Bush, who has increased spending at a much greater rate than the last president, is accusing someone of too much spending? Since all spending ust be matched by revenues, President Bush has added far more to the tax burden than his predecessor.
More follows...
I believe every child can learn, and every school must teach -- so we passed the most important federal education reform in history. Because we acted, children are making sustained progress in reading and math, America's schools are getting better, and nothing will hold us back.
COMMENT: The failure of the Bush administration to help struggling municipal governments has led to cutbacks in many of the least privileged school districts. Need data here.
I believe we have a moral responsibility to honor America's seniors -- so I brought Republicans and Democrats together to strengthen Medicare. Now seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine. Soon every senior will be able to get prescription drug coverage, and nothing will hold us back.
COMMENT: There is no evidence that seniors find medicine more affordable?
I believe in the energy and innovative spirit of America's workers, entrepreneurs, farmers, and ranchers -- so we unleashed that energy with the largest tax relief in a generation. Because we acted, our economy is growing again, and creating jobs, and nothing will hold us back.
COMMENT: Tax relief without spending cuts is not a meaningful concept. Assuming people care about the welfare of their children, they will perceive the present tax cut as an equivalent future tax increase. Assuming people do not care about the welfare of their children, the estate tax should be 100%, and no one believes that. Hence there has been no tax relief under President Bush.
I am running for President with a clear and positive plan to build a safer world, and a more hopeful America. I am running with a compassionate conservative philosophy: that government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this Nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership -- and that is why, with your help, we will win this election.
COMMENT: This administration supports more, not less, interference into private lives. This through limitations on reproductive choice, scientific inquiry and increased surveillance.
The story of America is the story of expanding liberty: an ever-widening circle, constantly growing to reach further and include more. Our Nation's founding commitment is still our deepest commitment: In our world, and here at home, we will extend the frontiers of freedom.
COMMENT: Not for homosexuals or scientists.
The times in which we live and work are changing dramatically. The workers of our parents' generation typically had one job, one skill, one career ? often with one company that provided health care and a pension. And most of those workers were men. Today, workers change jobs, even careers, many times during their lives, and in one of the most dramatic shifts our society has seen, two-thirds of all Moms also work outside the home.
This changed world can be a time of great opportunity for all Americans to earn a better living, support your family, and have a rewarding career. And government must take your side. Many of our most fundamental systems -- the tax code, health coverage, pension plans, worker training -- were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow. We will transform these systems so that all citizens are equipped, prepared -- and thus truly free -- to make your own choices and pursue your own dreams.
My plan begins with providing the security and opportunity of a growing economy. We now compete in a global market that provides new buyers for our goods, but new competition for our workers. To create more jobs in America, America must be the best place in the world to do business. To create jobs, my plan will encourage investment and expansion by restraining federal spending, reducing regulation, and making tax relief permanent. To create jobs, we will make our country less dependent on foreign sources of energy. To create jobs, we will expand trade and level the playing field to sell American goods and services across the globe. And we must protect small business owners and workers from the explosion of frivolous lawsuits that threaten jobs across America.
COMMENT: The President has not proposed any meaningful reduction in federal spending, other than abdicating the role of support for revenue constrained municipalities. On the major entitlements and the military there has been nothing but increased spending and plans for more spending. The deficits Bush proposes to increase through future tax cuts will generate increased future government spending on debt service.
COMMENT: The administration has not proposed a way to reduce significantly our dependence on foreign fuel sources. Rather, the administration has sought to avoid restraints on domestic energy consumption, thereby acting to increase our need for fuel.
Another drag on our economy is the current tax code, which is a complicated mess -- filled with special interest loopholes, saddling our people with more than six billion hours of paperwork and headache every year. The American people deserve -- and our economic future demands -- a simpler, fairer, pro-growth system. In a new term, I will lead a bipartisan effort to reform and simplify the federal tax code.
COMMENT: This would be in sharp contrast with the proliferation of loopholes this administration has encouraged. For example, dividend policy has been greatly complicated by a brief tax holiday for dividend payers that phases out over time.
Another priority in a new term will be to help workers take advantage of the expanding economy to find better, higher-paying jobs. In this time of change, many workers want to go back to school to learn different or higher-level skills. So we will double the number of people served by our principal job training program and increase funding for community colleges. I know that with the right skills, American workers can compete with anyone, anywhere in the world.
In this time of change, opportunity in some communities is more distant than in others. To stand with workers in poor communities -- and those that have lost manufacturing, textile, and other jobs -- we will create American opportunity zones. In these areas, we'll provide tax relief and other incentives to attract new business, and improve housing and job training to bring hope and work throughout all of America.
COMMENT: There is no evidence that the analogous program, empowerment zones, has been an important source of economic growth for urban or rural areas.
As I've traveled the country, I've met many workers and small business owners who have told me they are worried they cannot afford health care. More than half of the uninsured are small business employees and their families. In a new term, we must allow small firms to join together to purchase insurance at the discounts available to big companies. We will offer a tax credit to encourage small businesses and their employees to set up health savings accounts, and provide direct help for low-income Americans to purchase them. These accounts give workers the security of insurance against major illness, the opportunity to save tax-free for routine health expenses, and the freedom of knowing you can take your account with you whenever you change jobs. And we will provide low-income Americans with better access to health care: In a new term, I will ensure every poor county in America has a community or rural health center.
COMMENT: Given the low savings rates of most Americans and the failure of many to take advantage of tax deferred vehicles such as 401(k) plans, there is no reason to think that the people in greatest need of help with insurance will take up the opportunity to save in tax-free health savings plans. Further, those with the greatest need have the lowest marginal tax rates. Hence this plan will simply transfer money from the poor to the rich.
As I have traveled our country, I have met too many good doctors, especially OB-GYNS, who are being forced out of practice because of the high cost of lawsuits. To make health care more affordable and accessible, we must pass medical liability reform now. And in all we do to improve health care in America, we will make sure that health decisions are made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, DC.
COMMENT: There is no convincing evidence that lawsuits have significantly reduced the number of doctors in any region.
In this time of change, government must take the side of working families. In a new term, we will change outdated labor laws to offer comp-time and flex-time. Our laws should never stand in the way of a more family-friendly workplace.
Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security, and dignity, and independence.
Thanks to our policies, homeownership in America is at an all-time high. Tonight we set a new goal: seven million more affordable homes in the next 10 years so more American families will be able to open the door and say welcome to my home.
COMMENT: Homeownership was also at an all-time high in the Clinton years. Increased homeownership relates largely to reduced credit standards by lenders.
In an ownership society, more people will own their health plans, and have the confidence of owning a piece of their retirement. We will always keep the promise of Social Security for our older workers. With the huge Baby Boom generation approaching retirement, many of our children and grandchildren understandably worry whether Social Security will be there when they need it. We must strengthen Social Security by allowing younger workers to save some of their taxes in a personal account -- a nest egg you can call your own, and government can never take away.
COMMENT: There are already several ways for workers to put taxable income into savings, for example, 401(k) plans. This is not a new proposal.
Diverting social security revenues towards personal accounts will reduce the revenues available to pay Baby Boomers when they retire. This will weaken, not strengthen, social security unless the private account taxes are on top of existing social security taxes. That is, unless this is a proposal to increase social security taxes, it is a proposal to make an already underfunded system weaker.
In all these proposals, we seek to provide not just a government program, but a path -- a path to greater opportunity, more freedom, and more control over your own life.
This path begins with our youngest Americans. To build a more hopeful America, we must help our children reach as far as their vision and character can take them. Tonight, I remind every parent and every teacher, I say to every child: No matter what your circumstance, no matter where you live -- your school will be the path to the promise of America.
COMMENT: Then why have public schools been forced to cut back on teaching and enrichment programs in many jurisdictions?
We are transforming our schools by raising standards and focusing on results. We are insisting on accountability, empowering parents and teachers, and making sure that local people are in charge of their schools. By testing every child, we are identifying those who need help ? and we're providing a record level of funding to get them that help. In northeast Georgia, Gainesville Elementary School is mostly Hispanic and 90 percent poor ? and this year 90 percent of its students passed state tests in reading and math. The principal expresses the philosophy of his school this way: "We don't focus on what we can't do at this school; we focus on what we can do -- We do whatever it takes to get kids across the finish line." This principal is challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations, and that is the spirit of our education reform, and the commitment of our country: No dejaremos a ningún niño atrás. We will leave no child behind.
We are making progress -- and there is more to do. In this time of change, most new jobs are filled by people with at least two years of college, yet only about one in four students gets there. In our high schools, we will fund early intervention programs to help students at risk. We will place a new focus on math and science. As we make progress, we will require a rigorous exam before graduation. By raising performance in our high schools, and expanding Pell grants for low and middle income families, we will help more Americans start their career with a college diploma.
COMMENT: There is no evidence that testing children adds to future outcomes.
America's children must also have a healthy start in life. In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need.
Anyone who wants more details on my agenda can find them online. The web address is not very imaginative, but it's easy to remember: GeorgeWBush.com.
These changing times can be exciting times of expanded opportunity. And here, you face a choice. My opponent's policies are dramatically different from ours. Senator Kerry opposed Medicare reform and health savings accounts. After supporting my education reforms, he now wants to dilute them. He opposes legal and medical liability reform. He opposed reducing the marriage penalty, opposed doubling the child credit, and opposed lowering income taxes for all who pay them. To be fair, there are some things my opponent is for -- he's proposed more than two trillion dollars in new federal spending so far, and that's a lot, even for a senator from Massachusetts. To pay for that spending, he is running on a platform of increasing taxes -- and that's the kind of promise a politician usually keeps.
COMMENT: The tax cuts originally proposed by the administration were far more regressive than those that passed Congress. This was because moderates insisted on cuts throughout the income distribution. Senator Kerry opposed the tax cuts because they remained remarkably regressive. He proposes to retain the tax cuts for everyone except those who earn very high incomes.
His policies of tax and spend -- of expanding government rather than expanding opportunity -- are the policies of the past. We are on the path to the future -- and we are not turning back.
COMMENT: President Bush, who has increased spending at a much greater rate than the last president, is accusing someone of too much spending? Since all spending ust be matched by revenues, President Bush has added far more to the tax burden than his predecessor.