Gephardt gave this speech today in NYC

[JeniB]

I thought it would be good for some of you to see that Gephardt does speak out against Bush.


Gephardt Outlines Plan for Economic Security;

Offers Proposal to Strengthen Middle Class



New York, NY – Rep. Dick Gephardt said today that the Bush Administration has declared war on the middle class. In a speech entitled “Economic Security through a Stronger Middle Class,” Gephardt urges a return to core Democratic economic policies by abandoning President Bush’s budget busting tax cuts for the wealthiest and instead implementing policies that will strengthen middle class America.



“I’ll be using the term ‘middle class’ twenty-six times in this speech and I’ll tell you why: I’m a middle class guy from middle America who’s fought his whole life for middle class values,” Gephardt told New York City business owners. “I look at the economy from a middle class perspective. Not trickle down. Not just lifting a champagne glass and saying, bottoms up. But building real prosperity from the middle out. If our middle class is strong and if everyone who’s willing to work hard has a chance to join the middle class, then our country will be stronger, more productive, more prosperous for everybody.”



“It's the same old story. Unfortunately, it’s like the replay of an old movie the country had to live through once before in the late eighties and early nineties. Bush Economy I. Bush Economy II. They say no matter how bad the original was, the sequel is always worse,” said Gephardt. “In fact, I call it Houdini economics because it almost takes a sleight of hand to make a multi-trillion dollar surplus disappear. To make three million jobs disappear. To make middle class hope disappear. He should have taken Siegfried and Roy’s place in Las Vegas -- not Bill Clinton’s place in Washington. To me, the “W” in George W. Bush stands for wrong way. Trillions of dollars erased. Billions of dollars in debt. 3.1 million lost jobs. Simply put, he has the worst jobs record of any President since Herbert Hoover – which may be why food lines are back in many parts of the country.”



“Cutting taxes for the wealthy is not an economic plan… it’s a handout to the rich. In the end, it just doesn’t work because it just doesn’t get Americans working, said Gephardt. “Huge, budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthiest do not educate a single child, they do not extend health coverage to a single family, they do not create a single job — except maybe for the special-interest lobbyists who fight for them. And Mr. President, the results are in -- they do not lead to economic growth.”



Gephardt also expressed discontent over other Democrats’ support for the Bush economic plan.



“It’s time someone running for President spoke the truth -- that what’s good for America’s middle class is good for America,” said Gephardt. “Even more disheartening than the Bush-Cheney charges of class warfare is the small chorus of Democrats who agree with them. Well, I for one am proud of our record of fighting for the middle class … and I’m proud of the gains we made during the Clinton-Gore administration.”





Gephardt also offered five steps to immediately stimulate the economy:

· Raise the minimum wage;

· Use the full force of our markets to end currency manipulation;

· Accelerate the Highway Trust Fund;

· Pass the Hollings/Rangel legislation to repeal tax breaks for manufacturers who export products and replace them with a tax benefit for all US manufacturers; and

· Create a National Development Bank to allow states to issue bonds for resources necessary to end layoffs, hire more teachers, fund infrastructure projects and revive our manufacturing base.



“How can we possibly rebuild our economy if our middle class can’t even afford to be part of it anymore?” said Gephardt. “If we reward the work and initiative of ordinary Americans, if we empower them and enable them to prosper, then everybody benefits, from the factory floor to the corporate boardroom.”



Entire text of speech can be found at:

http://www.dickgephardt2004.com/plugin/template/gephardt/8/968

[ProfessorPlum]

1. Good for Gep.

Hit 'em hard!

[w13rd0]

2. Indeed...

...I've no problem with the Democratic candidates being inspired to take the fight to Bush. The more the merrier, and the faster we bring these pigs down...

[JeniB]

4. Yep

That's one thing we can all agree on!:-)

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

3. A great quote

"'It's the same old story. Unfortunately, it’s like the replay of an old movie the country had to live through once before in the late eighties and early nineties. Bush Economy I. Bush Economy II. They say no matter how bad the original was, the sequel is always worse,' said Gephardt."

Love that!