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October 24, 2004John Kerry is the leader that America needs todayThe record is clear. Over the past four years President George W. Bush has consistently made decisions and instituted policies that have left America wounded and divided at home, more vulnerable to its enemies and alone in the world. He misled the nation while leading it into the war in Iraq. He has turned away from the war against the real enemy, al-Qaida. He has alienated long-time allies and left America isolated in the midst of a worldwide war. Our borders, ports and infrastructure are essentially no safer than before 9/11. Huge gaps in airline security remain. Reckless tax cuts and soaring war costs have squandered a $147 billion budget surplus and left the country trillions in debt - $400 billion just this year. Rules to protect our air, water and forests have been eased or reversed. Promised education and testing programs have not been fully funded. Drug prices and drug company profits have soared. His Justice Department has run roughshod over basic rights. Millions of Americans have no health insurance, good-paying jobs are evaporating, prices for gasoline and home heating fuels are soaring. - - - It is a shameful and unnecessary legacy, one fueled by dogma, ideology and arrogance. We cannot afford four more years of reckless new adventures, of government for polluters and profiteers, four more years of societal warfare at home. It is time to turn to new leadership, leadership that promises to create and lead new worldwide alliances against al-Qaida, that promises to protect our air and water, that promises to heal the deep divisions at home. For those reasons and more, we endorse John Kerry for president. - Iraq: The president's most egregious actions have been related to the war in Iraq. Despite the spin, there is simply no doubt the administration exaggerated intelligence information about Iraq with one aim - to lead us into war in Iraq. There was no "imminent threat" to the United States, despite repeated references to "mushroom clouds" and other claims designed to frighten. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There were essentially no links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, no matter how many times Vice President Dick Cheney says there were. Iraq did not attack us on 9/11, despite the President's claim in the first presidential debate. It had no capacity to do so. Saddam was isolated and virtually powerless outside his borders. But we launched a pre-emptive war anyway, alienating virtually the entire world and squandering the good will and alliances we had built since 9/11. Now, more than 1,100 American soldiers are dead, thousands have been wounded and maimed for life, and Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists beyond al-Qaida's wildest dreams. His war in Iraq has jeopardized us all. Kerry has said that while he will stay the course in Iraq - not "cut and run," as Republicans claim - he will also rebuild alliances aimed at sharing the burden of reconstruction and dealing with new threats like Iran. - The war on al-Qaida: After 9/11, the world turned to the United States as never before. The country that had always been the first to help now needed help, and support poured in from across the globe. The invasion of Afghanistan and the destruction of the Taliban was quick, decisive and necessary. It was American force, American alliance-building, American resolve at its best. But on the very brink of full victory - hunting down Osama bin Laden and crushing the last vestiges of al-Qaida there and elsewhere - the president's seeming obsession with Iraq took over. And took worldwide good will with it. Now, after depending on Afghan warlords and an unreliable Pakistan to do much of our fighting for us, we don't know where bin Laden is, al-Qaida seems to have recovered and we seem stuck. There were elections in Afghanistan earlier this month, but there is no end in sight to the commitment of U.S. troops there. Kerry has said he will add 40,000 troops to worldwide U.S. military strength and re-establish worldwide networks to help track al-Qaida members wherever they are. He has said he will beef up security at ports and borders and better fund "first responders," local police and fire departments that would deal with the aftermath of an attack. - The environment: Bush's record is disgraceful. He reversed a 2000 campaign promise to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide; he has eased rules to allow older industrial plants and refineries expand without curbing pollution. He has sped up lumbering on public woodlands while limiting public reviews and appeals. He has reneged on a promise to eliminate a maintenance backlog in the national parks. He has said in the past that arid southwestern states would be interested in Great Lakes water, though he has since said he opposes withdrawals. Cheney convened a secret gathering of oil and gas industry cronies to create our national energy policy, and the administration has since fought every attempt to make its doings public. Kerry has said he will oppose any attempt to divert Great Lakes water. He will deal with - not ignore - global warming issues. He would ban drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He would give automakers incentives to build more fuel-efficient cars and would seek higher fuel efficiency. He would promote alternative energy sources. - Health care, Medicare: Bush signed a Medicare prescription drug benefit bill to subsidize costs for low-income patients. But the administration lied - and threatened to fire a whistle-blower - about the cost, an estimated $534 billion over 10 years. And yet the bill prohibited the government from negotiating lower drug costs. Monthly Medicare premiums for doctor visits will rise a record 17 percent next year. Employer-sponsored family health insurance premiums - for those lucky enough to have them - are up 11 percent, to an average $9,950 a year. The biggest indictment: The number of Americans without health insurance rose from 40 million in 2000 to 45 million in 2003. They're on their own. Kerry plans to expand health insurance to cover an additional 27 million people, in part by expanding existing federal employee insurance to private citizens, giving tax credits to the jobless to cover insurance costs, help insurance companies cover the cost of catastrophic medical expenses if they hold down premiums. - Social Security: President Bush has long been a backer of the idea of at least partially privatizing Social Security by allowing workers to invest some of their taxes in stocks and bonds. While he has not publicly embraced a plan, he reportedly told a private group recently that they would announce such plans in January if he's re-elected. Given the recent history of the stock market, allowing individual investment of Social Security taxes seems recipe for disaster. From 2000 to 2002, Wall Street lost more than $100 billion. Given the shaky condition of the economy now, such investments seem foolhardy. A commission named by Bush also warned that even partial privatization would require the government to borrow up to $2 trillion - an even bigger deficit. Kerry flatly opposes privatization, and says it would jeopardize the entire system. - - - There's more. Much more. But the theme remains the same. Bush has embraced a radical social and policy agenda that makes true conservatives blanch. Putting the nation trillions in debt and giving tax cuts to the rich in a time of war is not conservative. Shunning old alliances and much-needed military, diplomatic and security assistance is not in the nation's interests. It's high on the neo-con agenda, but not America's. John Kerry is experienced. He went to war when George Bush wouldn't. He knows that it takes a worldwide alliance to fight a worldwide war. He is not beholden to the corporate interests that have so directed and so benefited from the Bush presidency. America desperately needs new leadership, the kind John Kerry can provide. Vote John Kerry for president.
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