Now it's Kerry's turn

[Adam D]

Here's the shorthand of his platform, with the key subplanks summarized:

Agriculture- deal with mad cow, support farmers, promote renewable energy

AIDS- needs to be key area of foreign policy concern

Disabilities- provide better health care options, education and employment opportunities

Children- better health care, fully fund Head Start

Civil Rights- affirmative action, end Ashcroft policies

College- Increase tax credits, stop rising costs of tuition

Crime- increased gun safety, war on drugs

Economy/Jobs- fiscal restraint, job protection, reign in corporations, middle class tax cut

Education- oppose vouchers, better funding

Energy/Environment- reduce dependence on foreign oil, water protection, reduce emissions

Foreign policy- securing peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel. Energy security, AIDS, war on terror, oppose Chavez in Venezuela

GLBT- end discrimination, civil unions

Health care- pro-abortion, guaranteed health care for children, decrease costs of health care and medical malpractice insurance

Homeland security- reform intelligence, local action readiness

Immigration- earned citizenship and streamline system

Iraq- involve NATO, build security force

Native Americans- promote sovereignty and better health care and education

Nurses- end mandatory overtime, protect workplace rights

Workers- raise minimum wage, increase unemployment insurance, create jobs, protect unionization

Seniors- protect medicare and social security

Small Business- improve federal contract relations with small businesses

Technology- improve technological infrastructure and promote tech jobs

Trade- protectionism for US workers, decrease outsourcing

Veterans- better health care and housing

Women- pro-abortion, close income gap, end discrimination

[Adam D]

I would say just by looking at the two candidate's websites, Kerry is by far more encompassing on the policy front than Bush is, especially on domestic issues.

But why the hell isn't he talking about this shit? Fuck all the service record shit, he should be ignoring that and really hitting the issues.

[Dionysos]

Question:

He says he wants to increase tax credits, put in a middle class tax cut, provide better health care, and guarantee health care for children yet preaching fiscal restraint. How is he going to do both?

[Adam D]

Originally posted by Dionysos
Question:

He says he wants to increase tax credits, put in a middle class tax cut, provide better health care, and guarantee health care for children yet preaching fiscal restraint. How is he going to do both?

My guess is to return the capital gains/dividend/upper class taxes back to the way they were to fund the other programs. I didn't read many of his specific policies in depth, I'm sure there's some explination there.

[Dionysos]

Originally posted by Adam D
My guess is to return the capital gains/dividend/upper class taxes back to the way they were to fund the other programs. I didn't read many of his specific policies in depth, I'm sure there's some explination there.

Or that he doesn't plan on being able to accomplish all of his goals, which is reasonable to assume given the partisan nature of DC. I wonder if he were given the choice between fiscal restraint OR the other goals, which he would take. I would imagine he would take the others over fiscal restraint, but that's just a guess on my part.

[Adam D]

Originally posted by Dionysos
Or that he doesn't plan on being able to accomplish all of his goals, which is reasonable to assume given the partisan nature of DC. I wonder if he were given the choice between fiscal restraint OR the other goals, which he would take. I would imagine he would take the others over fiscal restraint, but that's just a guess on my part.

No politician, especially one with that expansive of a platform, ever gets much of it passed. A lot of it is just feelgood filler to put a smile on small groups like environmental activists and GLBT activists that will never even come up after the election. I think it's best to look at what is concentrated on, and assume those are the real key points. Here, it's health care, education, jobs, and AIDS.

All staple democratic issues.

And he should be wiping the floor with Bush on all of these.

[bfp]

Boy, that's a big government you've got there..

Agriculture- deal with mad cow, support farmers, promote renewable energy

Bush is doing this.

AIDS- needs to be key area of foreign policy concern

Already is a concern for the Bush Administration.

Disabilities- provide better health care options, education and employment opportunities

Not clear where he wants to go with this. Taxes im sure.

Children- better health care, fully fund Head Start

Raise taxes.

Civil Rights- affirmative action, end Ashcroft policies

Affirmative action = Disaster, if taken too far. Which im sure he will take it too far. Affirmative action throughout the world has produced disasterous results in many countries. Too bad we can't look to other countries and learn from them.

College- Increase tax credits, stop rising costs of tuition

Im all for this.

Crime- increased gun safety, war on drugs

Deletion of the 2nd Amendment. War on drugs? Doubt it.

Economy/Jobs- fiscal restraint, job protection, reign in corporations, middle class tax cut

Imposing more restrictions on a free-market economy.

Education- oppose vouchers, better funding

Raise taxes.

Energy/Environment- reduce dependence on foreign oil, water protection, reduce emissions

Bush is doing the same.

Foreign policy- securing peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel. Energy security, AIDS, war on terror, oppose Chavez in Venezuela

Already being done.

GLBT- end discrimination, civil unions

Bush hails civil unions.

Health care- pro-abortion, guaranteed health care for children, decrease costs of health care and medical malpractice insurance

Raise taxes, kill the unborn, raise taxes yet again due to the decreasing costs of health care.

Costs are eventually eaten up somewhere down the line. They just do not disappear.

Homeland security- reform intelligence, local action readiness

Already being done.

Iraq- involve NATO, build security force

I think it's apparent that the nations that want to help are already there.

Native Americans- promote sovereignty and better health care and education

A cast for votes. Oh yea, and more taxes.

Nurses- end mandatory overtime, protect workplace rights

Im intrested to see what is involved in this. Seems to me the gov't wants more regulations over buisnesses.

Workers- raise minimum wage, increase unemployment insurance, create jobs, protect unionization

I could list a number of things wrong with this. This goes back to the Gov't regulating a free-market system.

Seniors- protect medicare and social security

This will always be protected. If there is a danger in this area, it will be fixed no matter who is president.

Trade- protectionism for US workers, decrease outsourcing

A disaster. Imposing yet more restrictions on a free-market economy. Other companies will restrict jobs importing inside the US.

Veterans- better health care and housing

Wow, the healthcare never ends. Code name: Universal.

Women- pro-abortion, close income gap, end discrimination

Kill the unborn. Descrimination, yet again. Closing income gap?
With whose help? The gov't?

Wow, the gov't will do everything with the help from Kerry.

Fixing the inequities of society. Politicians aren't geniuses. Especially when it comes to enforcing laws regarding racial & sexual orientation.

This is going way too far.

[Adam D]

Thanks for your assertions without actually reading how he would go about all of this.

[Adam D]

I'm not suggesting I like his brand of health care reform, which sends federal money to insurance companies to "convince" them to lower premiums. However, it is better than Bush's do-nothing approach for most of the population.

[bfp]

Originally posted by Adam D
Thanks for your assertions without actually reading how he would go about all of this.

I've been wondering this all along. I've seen about 50 speeches from Kerry, and he hasn't detailed any of it yet.

Aside from abortion, outsourcing, universal healthcare & raising minimum wage(all of which is obvoius), he hasn't detailed any of his agenda to the american people.

[Adam D]

Originally posted by bfp
I've been wondering this all along. I've seen about 50 speeches from Kerry, and he hasn't detailed any of it yet.

Aside from abortion, outsourcing, universal healthcare & raising minimum wage(all of which is obvoius), he hasn't detailed any of his agenda to the american people.

If you look at his website, it details the specific programs that make up his platform.

Typically, politicians do not go into particulars about their platform unless they are debating. People are more concerned with what politicians are for rather than how they will accomplish it.

[Ryan]

bfp - Kerry's platform is not too far off Clinton's platform 12 years ago. Who expanded government more, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush? You are supporting a candidate who is as pro big government as any "liberal" in Washington. He has a proven record or free-market interference, big deficit spending, entitlements, and increased federal influence over local government. I appreciate that you follow Bush's conservative social agenda against abortion, gay rights, etc. and that you also prefer his brute force foreign policy, but don't try to make him out to be conservative on any other issues. You and I both know it's not true.

[bfp]

bfp - Kerry's platform is not too far off Clinton's platform 12 years ago.

Clinton is a moderate compared to Kerry. Are you fucking kidding me?

Who expanded government more, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush?

Kerry's budget will soar 1.7 trillion dollars OVER the Bush budget. Raising taxes would be his first priority to pay for the programs in his budget.

You are supporting a candidate who is as pro big government as any "liberal" in Washington.

Obviously not as liberal as Kerry...

He has a proven record or free-market interference

Free-market interference? Regarding what methods? How can you tell me that Bush interferes with the free-market and that Kerry will not. Kerry is an advocate of economic isolationism, period. Kerry will immediately impose restrictions on jobs in virtually every area of the free-market, insourcing AND outsourcing. Kerry is an advocate of raising taxes on both small & large buisnesses. He's voted 350 times for higher taxes since the 80's. Kerry voted against creating the lower bracket of a 10 percent tax rate for families. He voted against repealing the death tax, and supports reinstating it. The government shouldn't be allowed to come into your house and take your shit after you die.

No one wants Kerry in office. Not even his own party. He has repeatedly tried re-inventing himself as a centrist, and it hasn't worked.

[Ryan]

Originally posted by bfp
No one wants Kerry in office. Not even his own party. He has repeatedly tried re-inventing himself as a centrist, and it hasn't worked.

Is that why he's in a dead heat with Bush in almost every poll? Man, you really live on another planet, don't you?

[bfp]

Originally posted by Ryan
Is that why he's in a dead heat with Bush in almost every poll? Man, you really live on another planet, don't you?

During interviews after interviews of attendee's at rallies against Bush policies, people who oppose Bush really do not care for Kerry, and they have repeatedly stated that they would like to have someone else as the Democratic candidate, but they say that Kerry is the only way as of now to get Bush out of office. It's been reported on all major news networks.


Even you stated it yourself. Kerry is your 'anti-bush".