Gore pledges to create 10 million high-tech jobs, reduce poverty

By Mike Glover, Associated Press, 09/06/00

CLEVELAND -- Al Gore offered up a voluminous and detailed spending plan for the nation Wednesday, promising to create 10 million high-tech jobs, send poverty to historical lows and boost family income by a third if his policies are put in place.

"Let us build together a new prosperity and let us be the generation that makes it possible for all Americans to open the door to the American dream," Gore said as he laid out his economic goals Wednesday at Cleveland State University. Gore also said he would eliminate the national debt and strengthen the finances of Social Security and Medicare.

Senior aides said by focusing on paying down the national debt, Gore's plan, titled "Prosperity for America's Families," cast the Democratic presidential candidate as the fiscal conservative in his fight with Republican George W. Bush.

Taking aim at Bush, Gore said, "My plan wasn't built on cross-your-fingers economics that says we can give more to the people who already have the most and then just hope the benefits trickle down to the middle class."

In Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Bush also focused on their competing economic visions.

"My plan has been endorsed by Nobel prize winners. His plan has been endorsed by Bill Clinton," Bush told a crowd of a few hundred gathered at the airport. He repeated his charge that Gore would allow the government to dictate who gets a slice of extra federal money.

"He spends the entire surplus on bigger government," Bush said. "He won't admit it."

Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, met briefly with a Wilmington, Del., family -- John Lierenz and his wife Sherry, who stays home with their baby daughter -- and told them the Bush tax plan would shave $1,200 per year from their federal taxes, while Gore would cut only $100.

Gore's plan "discriminates against stay-at-home moms," Cheney told them Wednesday. "You get credit if you have your kids taken care of outside the home, but not if they stay at home."

Earlier, Gore chided Bush for his refusal to participate in all three debates proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Bush wants to do one of those events and two others each sponsored by a single TV network.

"What's wrong with those Commission debates, is it that too many people will be watching?" Gore asked on CBS' "Early Show." Bush, appearing on NBC's "Today," noted Gore had previously said he was willing to debate anytime, anyplace. "All of a sudden he has changed his mind. ... This is a man who says one thing and must not have meant it," Bush said.

Gore's speech was part of his ongoing effort to argue to voters that he is offering them specifics and real choices while Bush is serving up vague proposals.

The 191-page, 69,000-word blueprint has 12 chapters and is stuffed with charts, graphs and footnotes.

By adopting more conservative budget projections, Gore also would set aside a $300 billion "surplus reserve fund" to cover any shortfalls.

Among his promises:

  • Increase real family income by a third over the next decade, from this year's average of $47,000. Aides said a combination of productivity increases, as well as new worker training would make that happen.

  • Boost home ownership rates to 70 percent, largely by paying off the debt. Aides said that would keep interest rates low. He has pledged to eliminate the debt by 2012, with most paid by 2010. Gore also wants to boost low-income tax credits and increase community investment incentives for lenders.

    • Reduce poverty rates to below 10 percent for the first time in history, largely by increasing the minimum wage, bolstering welfare-to-work efforts and increasing Social Security benefits for elderly women.
    • Double the number of people with accumulated savings of more than $50,000. There are currently 32 million such families, and Gore said he would boost that number largely through new retirement savings incentives he has proposed.
    • Increase college attendance and graduation rates. Currently, 67 percent of high school seniors go to college. Gore wants to increase that to 75 percent. His key proposal is to make up to $10,000 in college tuition tax deductible.
    • Create 10 million new, high-tech jobs. With unemployment low, the need is to focus more on better paying jobs.
    • Reduce by half the pay gap between men and women, largely by toughening enforcement of discrimination laws. Women currently make 73 cents for every $1 men earn.
    • Cut the tax burden on average families, earning $47,000, to the lowest level in 50 years within the first two years in office. Aides argued that Gore's targeted tax cuts would do that because they would go on the books quicker than Bush's larger $1.3 trillion across-the-board reduction.

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