The Iowa Daily Report -- Tuesday, December 30, 2003

* QUOTABLE:

"This idea where he said that if he doesn't get the nomination, that all of his supporters will stay home and sulk and not vote, I just think that's ridiculous," said Dick Gephardt.

"When he's attacked, he says it's time to take his marbles and go home," he said. "What does he think will happen if he gets the nomination? Does he think the Bush people will say, 'Let's have polite debate'? Who's he going to call then — his mother?" said Joe Lockhart.

"Governor Dean has said any one of these guys would be better than George Bush and would certainly urge his supporters to do the same, but our focus is on beating George Bush and on the 2 million people we hope to have behind us to do so," Dean’s spokeswoman Tricia Enright said.

"Howard Dean travels the country preaching the religion of balanced budgets in Vermont and how he had a reputation for fiscal innovation. But Howard Dean doesn't tell anyone that his first instinct to cut benefits and inflict harm on people with disabilities was overturned by the courts," Dick Gephardt said.

"In 1995, Howard Dean tried to cut nearly a million dollars from the Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled Program" without the Vermont Legislature's approval,” Gephardt said. "Vermont Legal Aid took Howard Dean to the Vermont Superior Court. Only then was Governor Dean stopped."

"If I recall correctly, the first negative ad run in the state of Iowa was Howard Dean's ad against Mr. (Richard) Gephardt. And if I recall correctly, the first negative words uttered in the campaign were Howard Dean calling everyone else Bush Light and attacking Washington (D.C.),” John Kerry said.

"Dean will melt in a minute once Republicans start going after him," Joe Lieberman said.

"May we remind Mr. Lieberman that the reason more than half a million Americans are behind Howard Dean is because he alone stood up to George Bush?" said spokeswoman Tricia Enright. "It seems like the Washington candidates have figured out the only state they can run in: desperation."

“If you think tax cuts are more important than homeland security, then I think you've made a mistake as president, and clearly that puts us in greater danger," said Howard Dean.

* TODAY’S OFFERINGS:

Howard Dean: *Dean’s a cry baby *Dean created his own problems
*Dean top fundraiser *Dean: Bush reckless
*Dean defends secrecy *Dean to strengthen cities

Dick Gephardt: *Local funds for terrorism *Mad Cow & Food Safety *Gephardt’s new ad *Help for disabled Americans

John Kerry: *Environmental passion

Wesley Clark: *Clark’s new ad *Clark’s Southern tour

John Edwards: *Edwards to end exploitation

Dennis Kucinich: *Kucinich: Dean misrepresenting position
*Repeal provisions of Patriot Act

Just Politics: *Unions in Iowa *Poll watching

* CANDIDATES & CAUCUSES:

Dean’s a cry baby

Joe Lieberman issued the following statement in response to Howard Dean's comments asking Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe to intervene in the primary race to protect him from his rivals' criticisms. Dean told the New York Times, "If we had strong leadership in the Democratic Party, it would be calling the other candidates and saying somebody has to win here. If Ron Brown were chairman, this wouldn't be happening.''

Lieberman's statement:

"Throughout this year, Howard Dean has repeatedly attacked other Democratic candidates. But when recently challenged on his own policies, misstatements and retractions, Dean responded by complaining to the party chairman that we're being mean to him.

"I've got news for Howard Dean: the primaries are a warm up compared to what George Bush and Karl Rove have waiting for the Democratic nominee. If Howard Dean can't stand the heat in the Democratic kitchen, he's going to melt in a minute once the Republicans start going after him.

"Voters deserve to know why Howard Dean wants to raise middle class taxes and why I want to cut them. They deserve to know why he wants to shut down markets abroad and why I want to open them up. And they deserve to know why he is abandoning Bill Clinton's policies and I want to build on them. It's a matter of being open and honest with the voters.

"But there's another kind of openness -- openness in government. We just found out that before Dick Cheney ever did it, Howard Dean tried to hide his secret energy task force records, and of course he's still trying to hide his gubernatorial records from Vermont.

"It appears to me that Howard Dean is doing his best to avoid honest discussion and open debate. That's going to hurt our party and nominee in November, because we're not going to deny George Bush a second term if we practice the politics of name-calling and secrecy as he has. That is increasingly the path that Howard Dean is following, and I believe that voters are looking for a different kind of leader -- one who fights for what's right and won't duck questions or ask the party to chairman to protect him."

Dean created his own problems

Rep. Dick Gephardt chides Howard Dean for calling for protection from the Democrat National Committee, “The race for the Democratic nomination should be a contest, not a coronation. Howard Dean has spent the last year criticizing me and other candidates at every opportunity. Now, as he makes a series of embarrassing gaffes that underscore the fact he is not well-equipped to challenge George Bush, he suddenly wants to change the rules of the game.’

"I said almost a year ago that this campaign should be a contest of ideas. Since that time, I have offered bold, innovative ideas that will create jobs, guarantee every American health care that can never be taken away and make us independent of Middle East oil. I want caucus and primary voters to judge us on our ideas and that's why we must have a vigorous debate on our records and proposals. Anything less would be an insult to Democratic voters," Gephardt said.

The NY Times reports that Dean called Democrat National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe to explain his comments on Monday.

The LA Times reports that McAuliffe will not interfere in the disput,e according to a spokeswoman:

McAuliffe is on vacation and could not be reached for comment Monday. But his spokeswoman, Debra DeShong, said he did not intend to intervene in the primary to stop the strife among the candidates… "Look, this Democratic primary is no different than any other over the last 20 years. Politics is a combat sport," she said… DeShong added that McAuliffe believes "that voters will decide for themselves" whether the attacks on Dean were justified.

Dean top fundraiser

The Howard Dean Campaign announced that it will raise nearly $14 million this quarter, making them the leading Democrat fundraising campaign. Senior Dean campaign adviser Paul Maslin bragged about what their campaign’s future will be:

"From a practical sense, this means we have the ability to sustain ourselves against Bush into the spring," Maslin said. "And by then, we aren't going to be talking about Dean raising $14 million per quarter. We'll be talking about $40- or $50-million quarters, maybe more."

Wesley Clark will have raised between $10 million and $12 million in the fourth quarter, for a total of almost $15 million since becoming a candidate. Clark will get an additional bump in January with an estimated $3.7 million worth of federal matching money, while Dean has declined public money.

 Sen. John Kerry also has declined federal funds. The remaining six candidates will all receive federal matching funds after Jan. 1. Kerry has raised more than $20 million for the year.

Sen. John Edwards expects an estimated $3.4 million in federal matching funds and refused to disclose how much he will raise in the fourth quarter. He raised $14.4 million in the first three quarters of the year. Expectations are that he would raise $20 million by the end of the year.

Campaign aides for Sen. Joe Lieberman said he will not raise as much as the $3.6 million raised in the third quarter, but will collect $3.6 million in federal funds. Lieberman previously raised $11.7 million through the first three quarters.

Rep. Dick Gephardt expects to raise about the same amount as in the third quarter when he took in about $3.8 million. In the first three quarters, he raised a total of $13.9 million, and his campaign expects more than $3 million in federal matching funds next year.

Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich will have raised at least $1.5 million in the fourth quarter and will get $740,000 in matching funds.

Dean: Bush reckless

Howard Dean has charged that President Bush is reckless in recent days and major papers are covering the story. From Iraq to homeland security to public health, President Bush's "reckless" habit of placing "ideology over facts" has resulted in "the most dangerous administration in my lifetime, is the lead in many papers.

"If we are safer, how come we lost 10 more troops and raised the safety alert" to the orange level, Dean said in a stop Sunday night in Ankeny, Iowa.

The Washington Post reports that Dean is widening his attack on Bush. Some believe it is an attempt to deflect recent revelations concerning Dean’s actions as Governor of Vermont:

Dean has rocketed to the top of the Democratic presidential field with his sharp attacks on Bush, especially on the war in Iraq. Far from backing off his earlier comment about Hussein, Dean has broadened the critique, adding mad cow disease, the national deficit, HIV-AIDS and homeland security to the list of safety failures during Bush's tenure.

"National security and economic security are the touchstones of the election," he said in the interview after a rally Monday in Green Bay, Wis. "I think the president has been fairly reckless in just about every area I can think of."

Dean defends secrecy

The Howard Dean campaign continues to defend Dean’s secret energy committee while Governor of Vermont. Dean's campaign said it was "laughable" to compare the two task forces. "Governor Dean confronted and averted an energy crisis that would have had disastrous consequences for the citizens of Vermont by bringing together a bipartisan and ideologically diverse working group that solved the problem. Dick Cheney put together a group of his corporate cronies and partisan political contributors, and they gave themselves billions and disguised it as a national energy policy," spokesman Jay Carson said yesterday.

Dean to strengthen cities

Howard Dean announced an Initiative to Strengthen America's Cities. Dean chose to announce the initiative in Detroit. He stated that Detroit is one of the cities hardest hit by the Bush economy. He outlined a package that includes plans to create jobs, provide credit for urban businesses, boost wages, and strengthen affordable housing.

Dean made sure that he did not criticize former President Bill Clinton the way he did when he announced his grand plan for rebuilding America with a new social contract. This time he claims to be building on Clinton’s record.

"Under President Clinton, our cities were making great strides, and there was no reason to reverse course. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration simply is not listening to our mayors, to entrepreneurs, or to the people of America's cities," Dean said. "We cannot afford to waste four more years under an Administration that ignores the potential as well as the problems of our cities."

"Families in America's metro areas face a high cost of living," Dean said. "If they're working hard and playing by the rules, they shouldn't have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. That's why my initiative is aimed at creating jobs, promoting investment in small business, boosting wages and helping families afford housing."

“America's cities and metropolitan areas are enormously important to America's economy and future. They are home to almost 85 percent of all jobs and 80 percent of all our people. In an economy increasingly based on ideas and innovation, America's cities and metro areas, with their major research universities, cultural attractions, broad diversity, new immigrants and educated workers, can be engines of growth. They boost jobs and prosperity not just for city residents but for all of us. Unfortunately, with the wrong policies, our metro areas can also see unemployment and crime, abandoned buildings and traffic gridlock, fear and hopelessness.”

To address these issues, the Dean program builds on many of the successful initiatives of the Clinton Administration, which made addressing the needs of urban America a real priority. Governor Dean's program includes four key commitments:

·        To create jobs, through a $100 billion Fund To Restore America, aimed at adding at least a million jobs in the first two years. Cities and regions will use these funds to create jobs in education, health care, homeland security, and other critical areas. Metro areas hit hardest by the Bush economy will get the most assistance. And the new fund will support pioneering local programs that help create, promote, and retain good jobs, and train workers, in disadvantaged communities.

·        To provide credit that helps Americans start their own businesses and promotes urban investment: by creating a Small Business Capital Corporation to invest $1 billion in new loans, especially for smaller businesses like urban start-ups, and create 100,000 new small business jobs in the first three years; by championing the New Markets Tax Credit, which promotes billions of dollars in private sector investment and jobs, such as in factories, high-tech companies, and retail businesses, in low-income communities; by supporting aggressive enforcement of the Community Reinvestment Act, which for two decades has helped channel tens of billions in investments into urban neighborhoods, boosting businesses and housing; and by supporting programs that assist small disadvantaged businesses.

·        To boost wages, by pressing Congress to move toward a minimum wage of $7.00 per hour, by acting to protect worker overtime pay, by expanding unemployment benefits to cover more low-wage and part-time workers, and by extending unemployment benefits until we can reverse the effects of the Bush economy.

·        To strengthen affordable housing, by creating a National Housing Trust Fund, a proposal supported by thousands of community leaders and organizations and comparable to the innovative Housing and Conservation Trust Fund that Dean championed as Governor of Vermont. The national fund would provide a permanent source of funding to build, rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing for low and moderate income families. It would help provide hundred of thousands of new homes and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. In addition, to help cities make the right local choices about how to revitalize neighborhoods, create jobs, build parks and child care centers, as well as to increase affordable housing, Gov. Dean will double the Community Development Block Grant to $10 billion.

Dean's urban initiative is a comprehensive program that also includes commitments to address crime, violence and drug abuse, to crack down on predatory lending, to strengthen investment in education and pre-school programs, and to reduce sprawl and promote smart planning.

Local funds for terrorism

The Associated Press reports that Gephardt is pledging a $20 billion trust fund to support local governments’ terrorism costs:

I think it is worthwhile to look for ways to improve (the alert system), but the biggest failure here is the administration is not helping state and local governments with the economic costs of going to these different terror alerts. Every time they do one of these, the local fire, police, emergency service people are put on extra time duty. That costs money," he said.

"One of the reasons that all of these state and local governments are in financial trouble is they have never gotten the funding from the federal government to do the homeland security stuff they are being called on to do," he said.

Mad Cow & Food Safety

Dick Gephardt today unveiled his plan to bolster America's commitment to food safety and boost consumer confidence at home in America's food supply.

"I am encouraged that Canadian and American investigators have worked so well together to identify the origin of the affected cow and to isolate possibly affected herds. I remain concerned, however, that this administration has not taken the necessary immediate steps to make our food supply safer and increase consumer confidence. Keeping Americans safe from food-borne illness is a long term challenge, but there are things that can be done in the short term to ensure that Americans can be confident in the safety of what they are buying at the grocery store," said Gephardt. Gephardt outlined the following the strategy to secure America's food supply:

·        Compensate cattle ranchers, packers and those in the grain industry in rural America who will be directly affected by the disaster. The impact of mad cow disease stretches beyond the cattle industry to affect all American corn and grain producers. More than 70% of the corn produced in the United States is consumed by livestock.

·        Issue an executive order placing an immediate stop on the shipment of meat from all suspicious downed animals until test results have returned. Some packers already do this voluntarily, but it is illogical to conduct tests whose results are issued too late to have their maximum positive affect on our food supply.

·        Expand testing for mad cow disease and increase America's investment in research and development of animal disease testing to increase speed and accuracy. Tests on the diseased animal in Washington State were not returned for two weeks after the animal was killed and the meat had already been sent to market. It is necessary to increase capacity of testing facilities and create other regional facilities around the country.

·        Create an independent food safety agency, designed to protect the interests of consumers and producers. Currently, food safety is handled by entities within the FDA and the USDA - this new agency would combine those efforts and streamline American food safety mechanisms.

·        Immediately implement a mandatory animal identification system and trace back to country-of-origin immediately. There is a similar rule whose implementation has been delayed until July - it should be accelerated to make it easier to track animals immediately.

·        Immediately fund implementation of country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat. President Bush and congressional Republicans have backed an effort to delay COOL implementation for meet products until after the 2004 election. This is a political calculation that could have a devastating impact on our nation's ability to prevent mad cow disease from infiltrating our food supply and must be reversed.

·        Immediately suspend the recently proposed rule by the Bush Administration to allow Canadian imports of live animals back into the United States. Under no circumstances should the border be reopened to Canadian cattle until Canadian food supply efforts match robust American efforts to keep food borne pathogens out of our food supply.
Coordinate more closely with our trading partners to improve conditions abroad where our imported food is being produced. This should be a priority in all future trade agreements.

"America has always had and must continue to have the safest, highest quality farm products in the world. In order to keep our food supply safe and maintain consumer confidence at home and abroad, we must act quickly and decisively to stop any crisis from having long-term affects on our markets. Nothing is more important than protecting the American people in their daily lives and nothing less than the future of small town and rural America is at stake," Gephardt continued.”

To pay for his food safety program, Gephardt proposes utilizing emergency relief funds and restructuring commodity payments to put more sensible limits on the amounts that large agribusinesses can receive.

Gephardt’s new ad

The Gephardt for President Campaign today launched its paid advertising in Michigan and Oklahoma. Two 30-second spots will run on broadcast television.

One ad, entitled "Matt," discusses Rep. Dick Gephardt's son Matt's battle with cancer as a child and outlines why he has made his health care plan to guarantee every American health insurance that can never be taken away the centerpiece of his campaign. "It's time we did what's right," Gephardt says in the ad.

In the second spot, entitled "Struggled," Gephardt begins by saying "I approved this message because I want to stop George Bush and fight for America's middle class." In the ad, Gephardt discusses his background and the values that guide his public life. Those values will make him a very different president than George Bush. "It's people like my folks that make America great," Gephardt says in the ad. "I won't forget them as president."

"Matt"

"Thirty-one years ago, our two year old son Matt, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Our health insurance paid for experimental treatments that saved Matt's life. But in the hospital we met a lot of parents who didn't have insurance. I'll never forget the terror in their eyes. As president, I'll get rid of the Bush tax cuts to guarantee health insurance for every American. ‘I'm Dick Gephardt and I approved this message because it's time we did what's right.'"

"Struggled"

"I'm Dick Gephardt and I approved this message because I want to stop George Bush and fight for America's middle class. President Bush and I see things very differently. My mother was a secretary and my dad delivered milk door to door. They struggled so I could go to college. They taught me to do what's right, no matter the consequences. I owe them more than I can say. It's people like my folks who make America great. I won't forget them as president."

Help for disabled Americans

Council Bluffs, Iowa – In a speech entitled "Empowering Every American," Rep. Dick Gephardt today outlined his plan to increase the employment of people with disabilities and ensure fairness for all and continued to draw a stark contrast with Governor Howard Dean on his commitment to protecting Medicare, Medicaid and support for people with disabilities.

"As President of the United States, I will not rest until every person with a disability is treated with the same honor, dignity, and respect that Americans without disabilities enjoy," Gephardt told an audience at the Iowa School for the Deaf. "It's been said before – the word American ends with the words 'I can.' To me, no two words better sum up the spirit of the disability community. But when I'm president, every person with a disability will be able to say two more words, and those are 'I will.'

A Gephardt administration will take the following steps to increase the employment of people with disabilities and ensure fairness for all:

·        Provide full funding for I.D.E.A. and special education. The promise of equal education must be a reality for every child, whether or not they have a disability.

·        Reform the Social Security Disability system to encourage work while guaranteeing assistance to those who need it. The federal government must provide the necessary incentives to further ease the path to work for people with disabilities.

·        Use the purchasing power of the federal government to influence private-sector employers to hire people with disabilities. Gephardt will sign an executive order that requires federal contractors to undertake affirmative action to increase the number of people with disabilities they employ.

·        Expand the Small Business Administration's Section 8(a) program to include small businesses owned by entrepreneurs with disabilities.

·        Expand the number of people with disabilities employed by the federal government. President Clinton issued an Executive Order in 2000 requiring the federal government to hire 100,000 people with disabilities. George Bush has abandoned that goal. A Gephardt administration will fulfill the promise of the Clinton administration on this critical issue.

"On the issues of Medicare, Medicaid, and support for people with disabilities, our nominee must offer a clear alternative to George Bush. They cannot support cutting Medicare and Medicaid and turning Medicare into managed care. They cannot think that recipients should pay more for services. And our nominee must be able to answer the question, 'how will we guarantee health insurance for people with disabilities who want to work.'

"Unfortunately, not every Democrat has been steadfast in defending Medicare and Medicaid. We all know that in 1995, on the eve of the vote in Congress on the Republican plan to cut Medicare by $270 billion, Howard Dean gave a speech endorsing their efforts. But as Governor of Vermont, his actions were even more telling than his words. On August 9th of 1993, four days after we passed President Clinton's economic plan and one day before he signed it into law, Howard Dean announced a series of mid-year budget cuts that shocked the state of Vermont.
"State revenues had come in a little below expectations, so he decided that cuts had to be made. He cut health care services for 2,500 low-income adults with disabilities. He dropped dental coverage for over 12,000 Medicaid recipients. Monthly welfare benefits were cut. And for those nursing home patients who were forced to go the hospital, Medicaid would no longer pay to hold their bed for them back at the nursing home.

"In the end, Howard Dean was forced to back down by state legislators and by Vermont Legal Aid, which sued him for making cuts without the proper authority.

"But this was only one year. When you look further, and focus on his willingness to cut key programs for those in Vermont with disabilities, the story only gets worse. In 1995, Howard Dean tried to cut nearly a million dollars from the Aid to the Aged, Blind, and Disabled Program. He did it in the middle of the fiscal year without the approval of the Vermont state legislature.

"The people of Vermont had to fight their own Governor to stop the cuts, which affected 13,000 of the most vulnerable in Vermont, including 10,000 in the disability community. Vermont Legal Aid took Howard Dean to the Vermont Superior Court. Only then was Governor Dean stopped.

"I can't tell you how dismayed I am that a Democrat would wear these kinds of budget cuts as a badge of honor. This is not what we stand for in the Democratic Party.

"My answers on these questions are clear – 'Matt's Plan' will guarantee health insurance that can't be taken away for every working American. I will fight to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid to cover people with disabilities who are unable to work. And I will never give ground on the critical question of which political party has a history of supporting those who face challenges in life, and which political party couldn't care less.

"In the end, the citizens of our party have an important choice to make in the next few months. I believe we have a supreme responsibility to nominate a Democrat who can represent the best traditions, values, and wisdom of the Democratic Party.

"We must nominate someone who presents a clear contrast with George Bush on issues that can win this election for us. But even more than that, our imperative is to give voice to the fear and uncertainty of citizens who have no health care, who have no job, and who, whether they have a disability or not, would have no hope without Medicare or Medicaid."

Environmental passion

Sen. John Kerry campaigning in Iowa stressed his environmental record. If elected president, Kerry said he would implement a four-point plan to improve air quality, which would reduce future asthma cases and help current sufferers. These include:

-- Reversing the Bush administration's rollbacks of the Clean Air Act;

-- Making sure Clean Air Act rules apply and are enforced in agriculture; holding corporate farms accountable for pollution.

-- Take new steps to improve indoor air quality, like developing air quality standards and measurement methods;

-- reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"I've been deeply involved in the environment for years. It's been a longtime passion of mine," Kerry said.

Clark’s new ad

Clark has new ad running and it shows Bill Clinton awarding the General the Presidential Medal of Freedom in an August 2000 clip. Clark's 30-second ad can be seen on television stations in New Hampshire and Boston. In the ad, Clinton places the medal on Clark for the General's role as NATO Supreme Allied Commander during the Kosovo War. The commercial -- with an ad buy of $125,000 -- also shows Clark with a cook, a soldier, and students. The clip with Clinton is part of the public domain, said Mo Elleithee, Clark spokesperson.

Clark’s Southern tour

The Boston Globe reports on Wesley Clark’s shift in strategy towards trying to gain a foothold to challenge Howard Dean in the South:

The trip represents a shift in approach for Clark, who is still widely associated with his foreign policy credentials, campaigns with Rhodes Scholar elocution, and repeatedly professes his love for New Hampshire. Clark must perform well in the Granite State primary on Jan. 27, but he also needs a strong showing a week later on Feb. 3, when seven states hold elections, perhaps none of them more prominent than South Carolina.

While his efforts may be daunting, it is clear that Clark is going to show his Southern roots in trying to gain a stake in Southern allegiance to his campaign:

"I'm not sure how many people in South Carolina even know quite where Arkansas is or even are positive that Arkansas was one of the Confederate states. But they also know that Bill Clinton was a Southerner," said Jack Bass, a professor at the College of Charleston, who coauthored the book "The Transformation of Southern Politics."

If there's confusion, Clark will try to make up for it with Southern vernacular. In a prepared speech he delivered in Little Rock yesterday morning, Clark said it was so early that "I don't even think the hogs are up yet," and he talked about his Baptist upbringing and the school where "we read the Bible in homeroom and recited prayers every morning."

Clark also called for the enforcement of the voting rights act at a stop in Alabama according to the NY Times:

"If anyone is intimidated or turned away from the polls illegally, we will push to prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law," he said.

Edwards to end exploitation

Senator John Edwards outlined his vision for strengthening America's struggling middle class in a speech delivered today at the Creative Visions community center in Des Moines. Edwards highlighted how America has become divided in two under George Bush - with one America that is doing well and has its every wish granted by Washington, DC, and another that is living paycheck-to-paycheck and struggling to get by.

"Today under George W. Bush, there are two Americas, not one. One America does the work, while another America reaps the reward. One America pays the taxes, while another America gets the tax breaks," Edwards said. "If we want America to be a growing, thriving democracy with the strongest middle class on earth, we must choose a different path."

“While the middle class across America has been under assault during George Bush's presidency, the impact has been particularly hard in Iowa. Since Bush took office in January 2001, Iowa has seen: 32,000 lost jobs - 23,000 of them in manufacturing; a 52 percent increase in bankruptcy filings; 59,000 more Iowans living in poverty; and 22,000 fewer Iowans with health insurance.”

"When I'm president, we'll be one America, not two," Edwards said. "As president, I'll give every American the chance to build their future again. I have a plan to make America work for all of us, by creating 5 million new jobs in my first two years, reforming the tax code, and helping middle-class families save, invest, and get ahead."

In Iowa, Edwards' plan will:

·        Create 52,000 Iowa Jobs: In his first two years in office, Edwards will create jobs by cutting taxes for companies that export products, not jobs; standing up for U.S. trade rights; aiding overburdened state budgets; and restoring fiscal discipline.

·        Offer Tax Cuts for Working Families: John Edwards will offer targeted tax cuts to help over 1 million Iowans get ahead. These tax cuts include:

·        Homeownership: 70,000 Iowa families will use Edwards' first-time homebuyer tax credit to buy their first homes during Edwards' first term.

·        Newborns: 120,000 Iowa families will receive the family leave tax credit over four years. The $2,500 credit for each new child will allow parents to take time off work or meet other expenses.

·        Retirement Savings: 980,000 Iowa families will be eligible for matching savings tax credits.

·        Investments: 260,000 middle-class Iowa families will benefit from lower capital gains rates and 315,000 middle-class Iowa families will benefit from lower dividend rates.

Edwards also called for an end to the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and highlighted his proposals to protect middle-class families from irresponsible credit card companies, payday lenders and predatory lenders. In addition, he questioned Democrats who would raise taxes on middle-class families.

"I can't understand why some other candidates in this race want to raise taxes on work and make life harder for the middle class," Edwards said. "We know that President Bush's tax cuts did not do enough for working people. But our answer cannot be to raise taxes on the people who make the least. We cannot say to an average family of four in Iowa: your taxes are going up by more than $1,700."

Edwards said the steps he outlined today would change America by taking on the insiders and big corporations and strengthening the middle class and the economy. "I have been fighting this fight all my life and will fight harder as president."

Kucinich: Dean misrepresenting position

Dennis Kucinich is trying to get someone to take notice that Dean recently mailed brochures to homes in New Hampshire with a headline stating that Dean is the only candidate who 'opposed the war from the start. As everyone knows there is only one true opponent to the War and that is Kucinich.

Repeal provisions of Patriot Act

Kucinich will introduce legislation to repeal a section of the FY '04 Intelligence Authorization Act that expands powers granted to the federal government in the USA PATRIOT Act, allowing the government greater power to acquire financial records without judicial oversight from car dealers, pawnbrokers, travel agencies, and many other businesses. Traditional financial institutions like banks and credit unions are already subject to such demands, but this dramatic expansion of government authority will mean that records created by average citizens who purchase cars, plan vacations, or buy gifts will be subject to government seizure and analysis without the important requirements of probable cause or judicial review. This provision initially appeared in a leaked draft of the so-called "PATRIOT II", a proposal the American public and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate rejected.

"If we allow this Administration to continue this trend of expanding governmental powers at the expense of our civil rights our very democracy is at stake. Today, I join with over 229 communities in 35 states that represent over 29 million citizens, that have passed resolutions opposed to the law, in standing up to this abuse of power. It is now clear the administration's strategy is to pass PATRIOT II in separate pieces with little public debate, in secret, and surreptitiously attached to other legislation. This is far from an appropriate or democratic way to handle issues that affect the fundamental liberties and freedoms of Americans." – Dennis Kucinich.

Unions in Iowa

The Chicago Tribune covers the conflict between unions and within unions over the Howard Dean versus Dick Gephardt race:

"Those Democrats who voted for Dick Gephardt in 1988 will have to look at themselves in the mirror on caucus night and ask themselves: Do they want to bet on this horse again?" Leonard asked. (Sarah Leonard is press secretary for Dean in Iowa.)

Most of the unions in Iowa have endorsed Dick Gephardt and the service unions -- namely AFSCME -- has gone with Dean. Therein lies the problem.

For the Democrats, it is unions more than any other group that provides that organization. The unions run the machinery of politics that gets large numbers of people to the polls--phone banks, direct mail, door knocking, not to mention money to fund such efforts. And the exercise is not all home-grown; this is where the unions' national muscle gets a workout too.

The question is whether the long-standing loyalty for Gephardt will result in defections in the service unions. After all even Marcia Nichols, legislative political director for AFSCME Council 61 was a supporter of Gephardt before the national union endorsed Dean.

Poll watching

The American Research Group Inc. poll among random New Hampshire voters likely to vote in the Jan. 27 Democratic primary shows Howard Dean in the lead:

Howard Dean: 37 percent

John Kerry: 19 percent

Undecided: 18 percent

Wes Clark: 12 percent

Joe Lieberman: 6 percent

Dick Gephardt: 4 percent

John Edwards: 3 percent

Dennis Kucinich: 1 percent

Al Sharpton/Carol Moseley Braun: 0 percent

* ON THE BUSH BEAT:

Conservatives upset?

The Washington Times has a story that explores the question of whether fiscal conservatives are going to support President Bush:

"I'm hearing a lot of anger," says Richard Viguerie, the guru of conservative political direct mail. "I'm beginning, for the first time, [to hear] people talk about 'it would not be the worst thing in the world if Howard Dean were president,' because the size of government would stay still rather than increase 50 percent under a second Bush administration."

The poll numbers show that Bush has unparalleled support from Republicans at this time. The story also suggests that the problem is not at the grass roots:

Don Devine, vice chairman of the American Conservative Union and the editor of the new online journal, says for now, the discontent is mostly at the level of conservative leaders and hasn't trickled through to grass-roots voters.

"Right now, I don't think the disquiet — even though it's real and substantial — I don't think it has anything to do with the way they'll vote," he says.

One of the keys to the upcoming election is the approximate 4 million evangelical voters who did not vote in the last election.

* THE CLINTON COMEDIES:

While President Clinton has a cameo in Wesley Clark’s new commercial, Hillary Clinton is being recognized as the most admired woman in America -- behind President George W.Bush as the most admired individual. For the second year in a row, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York was the most admired woman. The former first lady was the first or second choice of 16% in a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll. Her memoir, Living History, is a best seller this year. Last year, 7% chose her. TV host Oprah Winfrey was second this year and in 2002. Laura Bush also was third last year. She placed first in 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

* NATIONAL:

Syria smuggled weapons to Iraq

A Syrian trading company with close ties to the ruling regime smuggled weapons and military hardware to Saddam Hussein between 2000 and 2003, helping Syria become the main channel for illicit arms transfers to Iraq despite a stringent U.N. embargo, documents recovered in Iraq show, according to the LA Times. A three-month investigation by The Times has found:

• A Polish company, Evax, signed four contracts with Iraq and successfully shipped up to 380 surface-to-air Volga/SA-2 missile engines to Baghdad through Syria. The last batch was delivered in December 2002, a month after the U.N. Security Council warned Iraq that it faced "serious consequences" if it continued to violate U.N. resolutions.

• South Korea's Armitel Co. Ltd. shipped $8 million worth of sophisticated telecommunications equipment for what Iraqi documents said was "air defense." The company is now submitting bids to the U.S.-led occupation authority for contracts to improve telephone and Internet service from Baghdad to Basra.

• Russia's Millenium Company Ltd. signed an $8.8-million contract in September 2002 to supply mostly American-made communications and surveillance gear to Iraq's intelligence service. The company's general manager in Moscow later wrote to suggest "the preparation of a sham contract" to deceive U.N. weapons inspectors, documents show.

• Slovenia's STO Ravne company, then a state-owned entity, shipped 20 large battle tank barrels identified as "steel tubes" to SES in February 2002. The next month, Slovenia's Defense Ministry blocked the company from exporting 50 more tank barrels to Syria. Overall, STO Ravne's secret contract called for delivering 175 tank barrels to Iraq.

• Two North Korean officials met the head of Al Bashair at SES offices in Damascus a month before the war to discuss Iraq's payment of $10 million for "major components" for ballistic missiles. U.S. intelligence agencies were unaware of the deal at the time, or of a meeting 10 months earlier in which Iraqi officials authorized a $1.9-million down payment to Pyongyang through SES.

• Massachusetts-based Cambridge Technology Inc. sold four optical scanners, which can be adapted to help divert laser-guided missiles, to a student in Canada. He had the equipment shipped to Amman, Jordan, and told the company he was donating it to a university whose name he now says he cannot remember. Without the U.S.company's knowledge, the real buyer was the Iraqi military.

MoveOn.org ad contest closing

MoveOn.org reports that since December 18th, folks have rated the ads submitted for the Bush attack ad contest over 2,000,000 times. They urge their supporters to continue their voting as they near the end-of-the-year deadline, the finalists still could be determined by just a few votes. They tell supporters that they need them to help decide which of the 1,019 submitted ads should become the 15 finalists, to be judged by our panel of celebrity judges.

 

 

homepage