John Kerry Talking Points/Sound Bites for reference, pls

[liveoaktx]

My father, who has been a staunch Republican for years (voted for Reagan, voted for both Bushes) told me this weekend that he is not going to vote for Bush in this election, but doesn't feel quite right about Kerry. He was for Howard Dean, because of the clear-speaking, to-the-point positions. (So was I).

I have some specific reasons why I want to vote for Kerry but they are not the same reasons that interest him. One that he agreed upon was rolling back the tax cuts for the most wealthy, because, as he said "It doesn't affect me, but it passes on debt to my descendants".

Anyway, I want to make a short list of what Kerry stands for, ala the sound bite type that the RW is always pulling off, to send to him. As I said, he's going to vote for Kerry anyway, because he believes Bush is that bad for the country.

[Dems Will Win]

1. This is what we hand out locally, some I wrote, the rest from Kerry's site

THE DRAFT
John Kerry has a NO-DRAFT PLAN that will raise an additional 40,000 troops from restructuring, pay and benefit raises for volunteers and a “Civilian Stability Corps” that will be formed. Kerry will also reduce troop levels in Iraq by bringing in NATO and the UN and arranging the quickest withdrawal possible. Bush has a HIDDEN AGENDA that likely includes invasions of other oil-bearing countries. This summer, Bush is spending $28 million to reduce DRAFT ACTIVATION TIME from 193 days to JUST 75 DAYS by March 31, 2005. If Congress approves a mere “trigger resolution” on April 1, the first DRAFT LOTTERY could be JUNE 15, 2005.

THE ENVIRONMENT

We all know what Bush has done to the environment but what does John Kerry want to do if elected? Nothing less than the most comprehensive, far-reaching plan for the environment ever proposed by a major US candidate for President. Kerry’s GREEN COMMUNITY concept calls for regional planning and cleanups on many levels, which will all be supported and funded by the White House. His Healthy Oceans Initiative is similarly a detailed and extensive plan to clean up and preserve our seas and fisheries.

Every local community needs to come together with other counties and develop a regional plan for your area—to prevent the Republicans from trying to boost the local economy with DUMB GROWTH ideas. Kerry’s GREEN COMMUNITY plan would support all of us in that effort.

TUITION HELP FOR STUDENTS

To be successful in the 21st Century economy, America’s workforce must be more innovative and productive than our competitors. That means better science, math, and job training opportunities and it also means giving every American the opportunity of four years of college. John Kerry’s “College Opportunity Tax Credit” will make four years of college affordable for all Americans. He will provide a credit for each and every year of college on the first $4,000 paid in tuition – the typical tuition and fees at a public college or university. Kerry’s tax credit will be refundable for our most economically vulnerable students and for those who receive other credits.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Nine million Federal employees get health care through the Federal Employees Health Care Benefits program (FEHBP), which offers a wide range of plans with good benefits. The Kerry plan will allow every American access to this system. With tax-based incentives to employers and tax credits to individuals and the self-employed, the Kerry plan will ensure that this coverage is affordable. The most vulnerable groups, including the unemployed and retirees below age 65, will be covered. To hold down premiums, the federal government will reimburse companies for 75 percent of catastrophic claims totaling more than $50,000, provided they pass the savings on to their policyholders. Under the Kerry Plan, 95% of adults and 99% of children will be ensured coverage fo $88 billion a year.

STOPPING JOBS FROM GOING OVERSEAS

John Kerry is proposing the most sweeping simplification of international taxes in over forty years: eliminating deferral so that companies pay taxes on their international income as they earn it rather than being allowed to defer taxes. American companies do not have to pay taxes on their active foreign income until they bring it back to the United States. If they keep their money abroad, a company can avoid paying U.S. taxes entirely. In addition, this provides an incentive for companies to keep re-investing their money abroad, and not to bring it back to contribute investment and growth to the American economy. In 1984 the average tax rate paid by American companies on foreign income was 34 percent - even higher than the U.S. tax rate. But the foreign rate has fallen steadily, reaching a low of 21 percent in 1996. Although U.S. deferral rules have been largely unchanged over this period, declining corporate tax rates in foreign countries and a shift in the countries where Americans invest mean that deferral today provides a much larger incentive to ship jobs overseas than it did 20 years ago.

John Kerry will fundamentally reform America's international tax system, eliminating tax breaks for companies that create jobs overseas and using the approximately $12 billion in annual savings to cut the corporate tax rate. Under John Kerry's plan, more than 99 percent of taxpaying companies will see their taxes go down.

[jpgray]

2. Some stuff from him on the environment, renewable energy, etc.

No nuclear waste dump in Nevada's Yucca Mountain

Nevadans understand better than anyone why so many Americans don't trust Bush. In 2000, candidate Bush promised not to ship nuclear waste to your state unless scientifically deemed safe. But after the election, President Bush caved to special interests and broke his promise to Nevada, and he has been doing his best to turn this state into a nuclear waste dump ever since.

That's a pattern Bush has repeated time after time: on issue after issue, George W. Bush keeps saying one thing to the people, and then doing another big favor for the special interests. As my friends in Nevada can tell you, I have stood time and time again with Nevada families to stop George W. Bush from turning this state into a nuclear waste dump. As your President, I'll continue that fight for Nevada - and you'll have the White House working for your top priority, instead of selling you out to the special interests.
Source: Press release, "Nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain" Feb 13, 2004

Raise CAFE standard to 36 mpg by 2015

Q: Would you increase the required automobile fleet average of 27.5 mpg; and SUVs and pickups averaging 20.7 mpg?

A: I support updating CAFE standards to 36 miles per gallon by 2015. This proposal will reduce America's dependence on oil by saving 2 million barrels of oil per day -- almost as much as we currently import from the Persian Gulf. It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, smog and ozone pollution.
Source: Associated Press policy Q&A, "Fuel Efficiency" Jan 25, 2004

Ban MBTE and sue companies who make it

Q: MTBE in gasoline is linked to water pollution, but adding ethanol is costly. How would you balance between the environment and the economy, as it pertains to MTBE?

KERRY: It needs to be banned, taken out. And the companies that have put it in need to be held responsible for it. One- sixth of the lakes of New Hampshire are polluted with MBTE. Now, Tom DeLay and his friends in Congress have been busy protecting those companies from their responsibility, trying to give them liability immunity for what they've done. This is the worst environmental administration that I've ever seen in all my time in public life. They're going backward on clean air, backward on clean water, backward on forest policy.

As president, I will balance between jobs and the economy, but I'm not going to give people a phony choice that says, "It's either the jobs or the economy." Cleaning up the environment is jobs. And we're going to create 500,000 of them for Americans in the first years.
Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Debate at St. Anselm College Jan 22, 2004

20% renewable energy by 2020

Q: How would you get the US to become more self-reliant for our energy needs?

A: We have to encourage the use of hybrid vehicles and invest in research and development. We have to set a goal by 2020 that 20 percent of our energy will come from renewable fuels. I am going to create an energy efficient trust fund to look for news sources of energy and we are going to create tens of thousands of jobs doing that. We can't drill our way out of this.
Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 7, 2003

ANWR won't provide any oil for 20 years

Q: On one hand you say there is a national security need to reduce dependence imported oil, while on the other hand you oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska?

KERRY: The Arctic Wildlife Refuge won't provide a drop of oil for 20 years. And the total amount of oil, if it were to come through at the level that some people in the oil industry predict, will amount to about a 1% to 2% reduction in the total dependency of the United States on oil.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

Invent our way out of oil dependency-don't drill our way out

We only have 3% of the world's oil reserves. There is no physical way for the US to drill its way out of this problem. We have to invent our way out of this problem. The sooner that we commit America to the science & discovery of renewable alternatives, the better off America will be, the better our health will be, the more effective our economy would be, the better our national security will be, and the better world citizen we will be. We need to commit ourselves to energy independence now.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

Invest in advancing secure forms of energy instead of oil

Q: What is your view on our dependence on fossil fuels?

A: Today we have an energy policy of big oil, by big oil, and for big oil. With common-sense investments in advancing and speeding breakthroughs, we can harness the natural world around us to light and power the world we live in with secure forms of energy at reasonable costs for a modern economy. I recently unveiled a plan to increase America's security and improve the environment, by ending our dependence on foreign oil within 10 years.
Source: MoveOn.org interview Jun 17, 2003