February 13, 2004
Palabris, Meet John
Since the democratic establishment has all but crowned him candidate, I think that it's about time we learn a little something about John Kerry, besides that he's the richest member of congress and a war "hero." Kerry's web site has a nice rundown of his urban "agenda," which is very broad and perhaps a little silly in its vagueness. But a few standout features are: indexing the minimum wage to inflation, fair housing and lending laws, tax write-offs for college tuition, etc. One strange thing is his call for increased revenues into "faith-based organizations." Sound familiar? Oh well. ABB infinity.
Posted by Palabris at February 13, 2004 12:54 PM
Here are some things I noticed on there.
Kerry's platform includes:
1. universal after-school
2. a national education trust fund to ensure full funding of all schools
3. a $10,000 tax credit for personnel in high-need schools
4. tweeking No Child Left Behind in rational ways so that it may achieve its stated goals
5. federal funding to ensure higher teacher pay
6. mandatory national service for high school students
7. 4 years of college tuition for 2 years of national service (including the option of having loans repaid by serving after college)
8. stopping the indefinite detention of citizens (+basic rights to all detained…this looks as if it means little more than no new laws or practices making things worse.)
9. increase the vehicle fuel economy standard to 36 mph by 2015
10. an energy plan with the ultimate goal of using only renewable fuel sources (20% by 2020)
11. health insurance for every child
12. repeal Bush tax cuts for the wealthy (no specs of exactly what this means)
13. cut the deficit in half in 4 years
14. reinstate 5-year ban on lobbying
15. require all meetings with lobbyists be recorded & made public
16. increasing minimum wage & indexing it to inflation
17. earned legalization for undocumented immigrants
18. support stem-cell research
19. “substantially greater debt reduction” for countries fighting AIDS
20. increased funding for fighting malaria & TB
21. end federal ban on syringe exchange
22. increase AIDS research funding
23. every American given “affordable” access to the Federal Employees Health Care Benefits program
24. 100,000 seniors in National Service (especially in schools. 10 hrs a week for $2,000 tax free a year)
25. summer of national service available to 13 to 17 year olds
26. “a major expansion” of the peace corps (to 25,000 members)
27. lots of good support for nurses including no mandatory overtime, the right to organize, & comprehensive whistle-blower protections for health care workers
28. Enforce equal pay for women
29. Expand head start
30. Right to vote for ex- criminal offenders
31. Creation of 1.5 million affordable rental units
32. Building of 500,000 low-to-moderate income homes in “distressed” areas
33. preserve affirmative action
34. support the right to choose
35. AFL-CIO gives Kerry 90%
36. Human Rights Campaign (Gay rights) gives Kerry 100%
