George W. Bush

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John Kerry

Good Jobs and a Strong National Economy

Employment/Unemployment
What steps will you take to create and retain good jobs in general?

On the same day that the Department of Labor released data showing that unemployment climbed to its highest rate in 9 years and more than 3 million private sector jobs had been lost, the Bush Administration insisted that its tax cut policies are working to bring back jobs. Well, I think we've seen enough of how Bush's economic policies work. We need a new approach.

I plan to replace every job lost during the Bush economy in the first 500 days of my presidency. The first thing I would do is get rid of the failed Bush economic policies and that means rolling back the tax cut and replacing it with policies aimed at creating jobs and helping workers; not rewarding the wealthiest. It means bringing back sound budget policies that improve confidence and investment in our companies. It means focusing federal infrastructure resources on critically needed projects like building roads and bridges and water and sewer systems.

I would start by putting in place a Job Creation Tax Cut, for businesses that hire new workers and increase salaries. I'd also encourage businesses to invest in new equipment and machinery with an R&D tax credit and an increase in expensing limits for small businesses.

We need to look beyond tax policy though. We need to redirect our resources in a way that creates jobs and prepares our economy for long-term competitiveness. There are a number of ways we can do that. First, I have proposed an energy policy that will create 500,000 jobs by investing in renewable energy and clean energy technologies while it moves us towards independence from foreign oil. My plan helps industries convert, so that products made with the new technologies in automobiles and home appliances are built in the USA.

We also need to contain health care costs, because these costs are making it hard for Americans companies to compete. If we can contain health-care spending - which rose by 13.7 percent last year - we can alleviate pressures on unions and management at contract time and on working families every day.

Finally, to make sure that the jobs we create are good jobs that pay good wages, I'd roll back the anti-labor policies of the Bush Administration and support a workers' right to organize for better pay, working conditions and benefits, just as I have done during my career in the United States Senate.

What steps will you take to fund important infrastructure projects that generate good jobs, such as transportation systems, school modernization, airports and water systems?

We have such a great opportunity to focus federal infrastructure resources on critically needed projects that allow us to spur the economy, replace jobs, increase future productivity and improve our quality of life. At a time when the economy is in dire need of jobs and economic stimulus, we should accelerate projects in the pipeline. For example, many of our sewer systems need replacing and our schools need rebuilding.

I'd also work to leverage federal resources through state-federal partnerships and guaranteed financing and bonding. I've been a leader in the effort to get school modernization bonds with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage standards, financing to help communities upgrade water treatment facilities and mass transit. I also think we need to reinvigorate our federal investment in housing construction and financing with a federal Housing Trust Fund. We need to establish ourselves at the forefront of emerging areas like environmental cleanup and research and development of new energy sources that will lay the groundwork for a generation or more of high paying jobs.

Investing in infrastructure jobs is a win-win strategy that should be part of any economic recovery plan. We can strengthen and improve our communities, stimulate the economy and create well paying jobs.

What steps will you take to revitalize America’s manufacturing sector?

We need a coordinated strategy to keep the industrial sector strong. Different industries face different challenges: some need additional capital to expand, some suffer from lack of enforcement of fair trade policies, some need additional help conducting research, and others don't get enough government contracts. As President, I will bring together the heads of manufacturing industries, labor, and government to develop policies that meet the needs of different industries and keep jobs in the United States.

I will also end tax policies that put American manufacturing workers at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. For example, companies move offshore simply to avoid paying American taxes, yet they still get all of the same benefits, including government contracts. We should penalize these companies and deny them government contracts.

My health care plan will also help strengthen manufacturing. Between $650 and $830 of the cost of each car produced by the Big Three automakers goes toward health care costs. This makes it hard to compete with other countries. My health care plan will cut spiraling health care premiums by up to $1,000 a year by covering a portion of catastrophic claims for companies that: provide affordable coverage for all their workers; guarantee they'll pass back the savings to their employees; and put in place preventive care and health promotion programs. My plan also controls costs by getting more affordable prescription drugs, assuring transparency, and reducing bureaucracy and paperwork.

Both renewable energy and energy efficiency create real opportunities for improving the competitiveness of American manufacturing. My plan to encourage development of diverse renewable energy sources will increase demand for new technology, high-performance durable goods, and highly skilled workers. For example, three million highly efficient cars will be added to the fleet each year by 2020. If that market is to be met by US workers, new investments must be made immediately to build capacity and expertise, pushing production as well as creating demand. I have proposed $1 billion a year in manufacturing conversion incentives to help factories convert in order to build the cars of the future here in America.

Will you support or oppose efforts to increase unemployment insurance benefits and expand them to include low-wage and part-time workers?

It is wrong that so many of our workers are left out of the unemployment system and that benefits are so low. I will fight hard for efforts to change that. We also need to work to make sure that COBRA benefits are affordable for those who are unemployed by subsidizing 75 percent of the premium.

A Strong Economy
What will you do to restore economic growth that reaches all Americans?

I will take steps that put a priority on middle class, job-creating tax cuts that will put the economy back on track. At the same time we need to reintroduce the second part of the economic formula that Democrats championed in the 1990s: Sound economics and budgets and investing in people. We need to make sure that workers displaced by this recession are retrained. I support $4,000 training vouchers that a worker can use to gain additional education and training from government, private sector or unions. We need to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. We need to expand the EITC for families with three or more children, to make sure that more families with full-time workers can escape poverty and accelerate marriage penalty relief for those workers receiving EITC.

Finally, we need to protect and expand tools that ensure opportunity. Affirmative action is necessary to promote diversity and open educational and business opportunities. We should be opening the doors of college to more students, not dumping burdens and mandates on state governments that force them to raise tuition.

How will you ensure that states can address the fiscal crises that are forcing them to cut services and jobs?

I find it remarkable that a former Governor has been so hostile to the interests of the states and ignorant of what it means to all our citizens. The Bush Administration has turned its back on its responsibilities to meet the costs of education reform, starved homeland security needs and slighted health care needs. This is not only bad for Americans who are facing higher tuition costs or higher state taxes or being cut off of Medicaid, it is a bad economic strategy. Forcing states to cut spending and raise taxes is the exact wrong thing to do in an economic downturn.

I strongly supported the fiscal relief packaged recently sent to states by Congress to help relieve the crushing pressure on state budgets. But $30 billion is only a down payment and I believe that we must do more to prevent the laying off of fire fighters, police officers, and teachers. Several of my proposals would relieve the burdens states face. I've proposed increased help for states to meet their homeland security needs and obligations. My health care plan would provide several billion dollars in relief to states by providing a swap that allows the Federal government to pick up the full cost of Medicaid kids in states that increase the rate of insured children and families. This will not only expand coverage for more families, it will give states significant resources. I would provide a temporary federal Medicaid match that is not tied to damaging block grants. I would also work to meet the federal government's promises to fund education reform and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. And I would put an end to tax cuts for the wealthy that cause states to lose critical revenue.

Globalization/Trade
What will you do to ensure that global trade and international economic development promote workers’ rights, good jobs and workers’ well-being?

As President, I will insist that core environmental and labor standards are included in all trade agreements - and I'd enforce them for a change. We need to end child labor, improve standards for all workers, and increase our commitment to fighting global environmental problems - not watch them eroded by unfair agreements. I've worked to expand trade adjustment assistance and make sure that it reaches workers who are displaced.

The current administration's arrogance on matters of international diplomacy has squandered the tools we have to convince potential trading partners to work in cooperation to raise environmental and labor standards.

I had firsthand experience in negotiating trade agreements in Vietnam and in that case the prospect of opening markets convinced them to cooperate with return of POWs. The same principles should apply when negotiating trade with other countries.

Do you support or oppose the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), based on the NAFTA model that has created import surges that cost jobs and does not require enforcement of internationally recognized workers’ rights?

I do not feel that we have done enough to enforce labor and environmental accords that were signed with NAFTA. I would impose stronger enforcement, as well as greater diplomatic pressure and more domestic investment to guarantee that trade not only lifts our economy, but also doesn't leave Americans behind.

Would you support or oppose any further rounds of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements that do not make substantial progress on incorporating internationally recognized workers’ rights or fully protect U.S. trade remedy laws?

I support continued negotiations, but feel that trade agreements should move forward in tandem with labor and environmental standards. We can be certain that such progress will not continue without American leadership and equally sure that the Bush Administration will not provide it.

What will you do to address the trade imbalance with China and promote internationally recognized rights for Chinese workers?

I believe that economic engagement with China is the best way to promote progress on the issues of worker protections and respect of basic human rights. China should not be permitted to abuse international trade rules or engage in other harmful practices that contribute to our trade imbalance with China. As President, I will work with China on all of these issues. However, I will also press the rights of workers and companies before international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, to ensure that China meets the various commitments of WTO membership and establishes basic liberties and rights for its citizens. Establishment and enforcement of basic rights in China is critical to the country's overall development.

Wage and Hour Issues
What will you do to restore the real value of the minimum wage and ensure it is not eroded by inflation in the future?

I would continue to support raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. We have not raised the minimum wage since 1996, and there is no reason that this should be a huge fight in the Congress constantly. It doesn't have to be if we index the minimum wage to inflation.

Do you support or oppose retaining worker protections under the Davis-Bacon Act, which ensures local prevailing wages are paid on federal construction projects, and transit employee collective bargaining protections?


This is not only fair but it is good for these projects. Studies have shown that projects where workers have Davis-Bacon protections are completed faster and cheaper with less interruption.

Will you support or oppose proposals to roll back protections now granted to workers Will you support or oppose proposals to roll back protections now granted to workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including proposals to allow employers to substitute comp time for paid overtime and exclude certain forms of compensation from the calculation of overtime pay?

I believe that the assault on labor protections by this Administration is outrageous. How can an Administration hand out tax cuts to millionaires on the one hand and effectively reduce compensation for workers on the other? It is wrong and I will fight against it. We need to give American workers more protections not fewer.

Health and Safety
How will you protect workers’ safety and health on the job?

The most recent reports from the Department of Labor show that workplace injuries continue to rise, particularly for groups like Hispanic workers and miners. We need to step up enforcement action and begin to prosecute willful violators of health and safety rules. We also need an administration that recognizes the health and safety threat that workers face, whether in the form of ergonomic injury, exposure to TB, or workplace accidents. I'd start by stepping up OSHA inspections, ordering my Justice Department to vigorously prosecute the worst violators and reinstating the standards for ergonomics that the Bush Administration cancelled.

Do you support or oppose a new standard to protect workers from ergonomic injuries?