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| GEORGE
W. BUSH, Republican Governor of Texas, is the son of
former President George Bush. Before his election, Bush started
several oil and gas exploration companies that all eventually
failed. Aided by family friends, Bush gained a stake in the Texas
Rangers baseball franchise; thanks to a taxpayer-financed subsidy of
a new stadium, he enjoyed a windfall of nearly $14 million. His
tenure as Texas Governor has been without either major
accomplishment or controversy. |
AL
GORE, Democratic Vice President since 1992, is a former
U.S. Senator and Representative from Tennessee. The son of the late
Sen. Albert Gore, he worked as a newspaper reporter prior to winning
his House seat. Gore was an early member of the Democratic
Leadership Council (DLC), a group of pro-business Democrats. As Vice
President, Gore kept a low profile during the Clinton scandals. His
leadership of federal government "Reinvention" programs
led to the loss of more than 300,000 federal jobs. |
RALPH
NADER, the Green Party candidate for President, is a
well-known advocate for consumer and citizens’ rights. The
Harvard-trained lawyer gained prominence in the 1960s by taking on
the giant General Motors Corp. His success led to the creation of an
array of Nader-inspired organizations promoting the interests of
consumers and ordinary citizens. Nader was a founding delegate to
the Labor Party convention in 1996. He is not accepting corporate
donations to his campaign. |
PAT
BUCHANAN, a political commentator and journalist by
profession, was one of the Nixon loyalists who worked for the
beleaguered President until his 1974 resignation. He returned to the
White House in 1985 as part of the Reagan Administration. Buchanan
entered the Republican presidential primaries in both 1992 and 1996,
winning some significant support. His inability to capture the
Republican nomination led him to seek the Reform Party nomination
during the current election cycle. |
| HEALTH
CARE |
| BUSH
supports a weak "bill of rights" for those
fortunate enough to already have insurance, and medical savings
accounts. |
GORE
supports a variety of very limited schemes such as a bill
of rights for those already insured, health care for poor children,
and prescription coverage for seniors. |
NADER
supports the creation of a national, universal health
care system. |
BUCHANAN
has little to say about health care, supports medical
savings accounts. |
| TRADE
POLICIES |
| BUSH
backs NAFTA, the recent China trade deal and presidential
"fast track" negotiating authority. |
GORE
supports NAFTA, the recent China trade deal, and other
trade agreements; supports limited training and job-loss benefits
for those who lose jobs due to free trade. |
NADER
actively opposed trade deals, including NAFTA and the
China agreement. Nader and his Public Citizen Trade Watch
organization were responsible for exposing the secret Multilateral
Agreement on Investments (MAI) scheme, posting it word-for-word on
their website. |
BUCHANAN
opposes free trade but fails to support working people
around the world who are victims of globalization. |
| HUMAN
RIGHTS FOR WORKERS |
| Governor
of a "right-to-work" state, BUSH
has no objection to the anti-union law. Opposes granting Texas
public sector workers full collective bargaining rights. |
As
U.S. Representative and Senator, GORE supported
the 1977 labor law reform bill and "Strikers’ Rights"
bill of 1992; as Vice President supported President Clinton’s
decision to veto the so-called "Teamwork" Act. Has yet to
endorse far-reaching labor law reform. |
NADER
supports full labor law reform that restore the ability
to organize and calls for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act. |
In
1996 BUCHANAN opposed increasing
the minimum wage. His campaign refuses to accept "union"
money, and he has indicated in as many words that he supports making
it illegal for unions to use dues money to conduct any kind of
political education or action. |
| DEFENDING
SOCIAL SECURITY |
| BUSH
supports a plan to privatize a significant portion of
Social Security. He would consider raising the Social Security
retirement age higher than 67. He has not come out against any
benefit reductions. |
GORE
defends Social Security from cuts or privatization, but
has considered various kinds of personal accounts. |
NADER
exposed and denounced the corporate forces who support
the privatization of Social Security assets. |
Some
comments indicate support for the basic concept of Social Security,
but BUCHANAN frequently blasts
"FDR’s New Deal," referring to the social safety net
that includes Social Security. |
| PUBLIC
SECTOR WORKERS |
| As
Texas Governor, BUSH attempted
to fire thousands of state employees through privatization. In the
wake of welfare "reform," he opposed paying even minimum
wages to benefit recipients who were working in the public sector. |
GORE
directed the elimination of more than 300,000 federal
jobs through "Reinvention." Agencies such as OSHA are so
short of staff that they are unable to perform their assigned
duties. |
NADER
champions the role of public sector workers, opposes
privatization. |
BUCHANAN
opposes "big government," plans to abolish
entire federal agencies if elected. |
| DEFENDING
PUBLIC EDUCATION |
| BUSH
supports the undermining of public schools by providing
taxpayer funding of private school vouchers. As Texas Governor he
slashed $400 million from the state teacher retirement system,
further indicating that he views the school workforce as the
problem. |
GORE
compiled a record supportive of our public education
system; recently campaigned for a substantial investment in the
physical plant and technology of our public schools. |
NADER
supports public education, calling for increased funding
at all levels. |
BUCHANAN
supports "parental choice," meaning he supports
public funding of private schools as the real "parental
choice." Would abolish the Department of Education. |
