Kerry: "Fight for our Economic Future"

[ModerateMiddle]

This was a major economic policy speech Kerry gave in NH last week. It's well worth the read.


I have come here today to set out my vision of America’s economic future - with a detailed plan to bring back good paying jobs and fiscal discipline, to reward those who are working hard and doing what’s right, and to prepare America to compete and thrive in the new economy of the 21st century.

The decisions we make on the economy define our values as a nation. And I’m not just talking about values that can be counted and measured in dollars and cents, budgets and programs, the bulls and the bears. The decisions we now face go to the heart of questions that are fundamental to our character and our history: Will we have an America with opportunity for all or one where a privileged few call the shots and reap the rewards? Will we honor the values of hard work or reward those who are breaking the rules? Will we have the courage to build the opportunities of the future or will we remain trapped in the economic debates of the past?

These are the questions – these are the stakes – in the election of 2004. Under George Bush’s watch, our economy has taken a nose dive. America has lost over three million jobs. Surpluses have disappeared and deficits have soared to record heights. Business investment in training and in America’s future has plummeted. The stock market is down. The gap in pay between those in the corporate suites and those in the cubicles, behind the counter, or on the factory floor has never been so wide. And corporate scandals have shaken our confidence in the economy as corrupt CEOs make out like bandits, looting the earnings their employees created and feathering their nests while costing Americans their nest eggs. It’s not hard to see why the American people think that today they’re working for the economy, but the economy’s not working for them.

much much more at link

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/speeches/spc_2003_0828.html